Paper Dolls
by doncellerespire
Summary: Renee Waller didn't mean for any of this to happen. She didn't mean to end up in the middle of an apocalypse. She didn't mean to find a little girl in the midst of hell. She didn't mean to find him in the ashes of what was left. But somehow, she did. Daryl/OC
1. Butterflies in Her Hair

**Hey everyone! Thanks for checking out this fic! Not a whole lot to say so far, this is a Daryl/OC fic of undetermined burn length. Currently going to be rated M for violence, gore, swearing, and some potentially sexual situations later on in the fic. I'd really love feedback, positive or constructive, I want to make sure you guys are enjoying this story. I don't bite, and I respond to most reviews, so if you wanna strike up a conversation I'm usually doing my best to procrastinate on something (this chapter was an effort not to study for my AP Comparative Government test). **

**Well, I can't wait to hear back from you guys! I hope you enjoy!**

**I've come back to edit this a bit (not the story, just the note) I've now created a kinda sorta soundtrack for this story, comprised of songs I listen to while I'm writing that fit the general mood of the story. The link is in my profile.**

**Chapter One - ** **Butterflies in Her Hair**

"I want my Mommy." The little girl's voice sounded resigned to her words. It was a sentence she had to say, a mantra she had lost faith in two days and a dead iPod ago.

"Hey, I'm sure we'll find her, kid. I bet she's out here looking for you right now." She smiled into the rearview mirror trying in vain to get one back, but the girl's big, brown doe eyes were glued to fraying shoelaces. Renee did her best to hold in a sigh, she'd lost faith even before Jada had, "This traffic jam's just so long she probably hasn't been able to find you yet."

Jada didn't respond. She was bored, Renee knew, there wasn't exactly much to do in three days of bumper to bumper to traffic. If she'd known she'd be going on the world's slowest road trip with some six year old she would've packed for it. There had to be families on the highway somewhere, other kids for Jada to play with. Maybe someone who would take her in. Renee hadn't exactly been planning on playing Mom at twenty.

She was almost twenty one now, her birthday would be in a month.

She wouldn't have to worry about judgemental looks at least, people thinking she was the mother of a six year old at only twenty. They didn't exactly look a like. Renee was about as white as they came with freckles, and a carrot top, and skin prone to sunburn on a cloudy day. Jada was black, with big brown eyes, and thick hair done up with sparkly plastic balls and butterflies.

"I'm thirsty," Jada complained. She'd been complaining about everything today, Renee guessed she had the right to. The world had gone to shit and so far the kid had proved to be pretty tough, Renee figured a little whining was a hell of a lot better than a full on meltdown.

"Here." She pulled a bottle of water out from under the seat, the rest were in the back, but she was trying to ration them - she didn't really know how long it would be before she could get her hands on more. Hell she didn't really know how long it'd be before she could get off this road.

"It's warm." The little girl grimaced, sending a pretty menacing glare at her bottle.

"I know."

She was pretty well set for the short term. Plenty of clothes, a few cases of water bottles, couple boxes of granola bars, two bags of chex mix, and a king size pack of Reese's she'd been saving at the bottom of her cooler. They were supposed to be a "congrats for surviving the big city" treat, since she'd booked herself a hotel at the heart of Atlanta. It was a cheap room in a nice building, with a picturesque view of a deli's dumpster, but she figured that if she could drive in and out of a city without getting herself killed she'd deserve a treat.

Five days after she'd first seen the Atlanta sky line, she still hadn't managed to put those tall, grey buildings behind her.

Jada wasn't quite so well off. All she had were the clothes on her back, and a bloodied Teddy Bear.

This couldn't last forever though, could it? The city had been lit up, those things...those things couldn't have survived that. This would come to an end, she'd find Jada's aunt or grandma or something. Life would go on.

"Hey would you look at that? We're moving!" Renee said cheerily as they crept along, every once in a while they'd have to weave in and out of cars that had been abandoned. Apparently more than a few people had decided that hiking was a better option.

They'd been doing okay on gas so far, but the needle was tipping ever closer to the red zone. Her dad had insisted she take his old Camaro, and when she said old, she meant very old. Like 1970 solid steel frame, gas cost thirty cents a gallon old. The thing had a lot of miles, but it'd been well taken care of - her dad was a bit of a car freak - and as far as he was concerned there was no better car to take his baby out on her first solo road trip. It'd take a Mactruck to rip that thing apart, especially with all the "shitty fiberglass frames" running around out there.

A frown tugged at the corners of her mouth, the lines had been jammed when she'd tried to call her family the first day. The second, she called ten times, by the fifth time she knew she was only going to get the answering machine. Yesterday her phone died. Today she'd resolved that they were fine, they had a beach house and a boat out on the coast - they probably just went there. Her brother was at UCLA, maybe the west coast hadn't been hit so bad.

Her eyes flitted back to Jada, she'd grown more despondent by the day. The first had been bad, but that was to be expected, the kid had seen a lot of shit that Renee wouldn't have wanted a six year old to see. That Renee didn't want to see. She'd been better the second day, but the events of this hellish week were finally starting to sink in. Little fingers still clung to that Teddy bear, an eye was missing, and pink tinged stuffing was leaking from an arm that had been there a few days ago.

"Hey. Wha'da ya say, we have another dance party?"

"There's no music," she replied.

Renee hadn't been letting them listen to the radio, it was all emergency messages and those terrifying bleeps they liked to play at the beginning and end. The iPod had run out of juice pretty quickly. Before that though, they'd jammed out to Brittany and The Spice Girls. It had been fun, forgetting about the dead and the living who could be dead, and just rocking out with her new little buddy.

The cars were slowing down again, brake lights glowing in the half light of dusk. The ditched cars were growing more and more numerous - off to the shoulder a couple were walking up into the woods with backpacks and a rifle. Maybe when the trail of cars inevitably stopped again she'd hop out and start searching them, there had to be books and toys that some kid couldn't drag along. Maybe she'd find a couple backpacks, she didn't really think a rolling suitcase would be all that convenient once they ran out of gas.

"Why don't you hop up front?" she asked, at this rate she was willing to try anything to get the little girl who'd danced back, who'd screamed lyrics she didn't know at the top of her lungs. The morose silence was far worse than off tune caterwauling, hell Renee could off tune caterwaul with the best of them.

Jada's eyes lit up, "Really?"

"Yeah, couldn't hurt. Not like we're going all that fast." The little girl scrambled to undo her seat belt, and pulled herself and that bear up into the passenger seat. Renee held her breath, she was starting to stink. She doubted she smelled much better, but at least she'd been able to change clothes. "Why don't you keep an eye out for me, let me know when we're coming up on any abandoned cars."

"Why?" She asked. Renee smiled, there was the Jada from the other day. Girl sure as hell could ask 'why' a lot.

"I'm going to start look for some stuff for us. Some clothes and blankets. Maybe a bit more food. Don't know how long it's going to be till we can find your Mommy." Jada nodded thoughtfully, "I'll try and keep an eye out for some books or toys for ya."

Her nose crinkled, "I don't like reading."

"Oh come on, you don't like reading?" Renee teased as she let the Camaro coast along. She was stuck behind some dinky old RV, it could have been bigger, but it didn't exactly give her a great view of the road.

"Nope," she popped her p's and kicked her feet lazily as she strained to look out the windshield, "I liked when Mommy read to me, but I didn't like reading."

"Well, then I'll just have to read to you for her, won't I?" Renee smiled at Jada. She didn't smile back, but nodded enthusiastically enough, totally absorbed in her new job. At least she had something to keep her mind on.

The sun was about to set over Atlanta, thick plumes of black smoke standing out against a fiery sky.

Up ahead people were slipping around an old sedan from the 90s, the back window had been broken out, "Look, look there! There's one!" Jada yelled, pointing over and over for extra emphasis.

"Yeah. Yeah I see it." Renee's eyes narrowed as they rolled closer. Bile rose in her throat as she watched little hands grasp at red stained glass, the elbow was bent all wrong. "Hey Jada, we're going to play another game, okay?"

"What about the car?"

"You did good -"

"Are we gonna stop?" Jada cut her off. There was a hint of a smile in her doe eyes, probably thinking about books and barbies.

"No," Renee said a bit sharply, and then softer, "We'll, stop at the next one. Why don't we play a game? Let's see who can keep their eyes closed the longest."

"That sounds boring," she whined, kicking her legs against the seat even harder.

They were inching closer and closer to the abandoned car. Bloody little hands and broken glass.

"Please, for me?" Jada didn't need to be seeing this.

"How'm I gonna know you ain't cheating?" Damn kids, for being so willing to break rules they sure hated people who broke rules. It was like they all lived in this little lawless bubble of their own, playing judge and jury to everyone except themselves. She knew she'd been like that when she was little, she'd almost broken her brother's nose for cheating at go-fish. Little did he know, she had a whole extra deck of cards under the table, picking out matches for herself when he wasn't looking.

"We'll have an impartial judge." She was grasping at straws now, but she could see a second set of hands beginning to impale themselves on crystal shards.

"A what?" Jada raised an eyebrow.

"Someone else is going to make sure we don't cheat."

The little girl slowly glanced around the otherwise empty Camaro, "Who? You gotta mouse in your pocket?" That must have been something her Mama used to say. Renee would have burst out laughing if she hadn't been so busy trying not throw up, a set of gnashing, lipless baby teeth grinned at her. The boy couldn't have been more than seven, just a little older than Jada. She needed Jada to close her eyes, but she didn't want to worry her. Her mood was only just starting to pick up again.

"Santa. Santa's the judge." Her eyes snapped shut at that, her brow furrowed concentrating as hard as she could to keep her eyes from opening. Renee didn't close them, but she didn't look at the car either. Her eyes stayed glued on the RV's license plate, brow furrowed in concentration as she tried as hard as she could not to gag.

She waited until the car was long out of sight before she told Jada that she'd won. The little girl smiled in the passenger's seat as she kept her eyes peeled for another vehicle to scavenge.

Renee found herself desperately hoping that the next one would just be a car, not a grave.

* * *

><p>The line of cars tended to come to a stop sometime after sundown. Most people didn't want to keep driving on through the night, it got tiring. Those who did want to keep driving, well, it was just too bad for them. The sun had been down for a couple hours when the headlights began to blink out.<p>

They still hadn't found a car she'd been willing to stop at, and apparently they needed more food, Jada had perfected the art of opening granola bars very, very quietly. They needed more clothes for her. Renee would kill for a pillow, a few nights of sleeping in the car had left her with a killer crick in her neck.

There was a rumble in the seat next to her, girl ate half a box of granola bars and she was still hungry? Renee ran her face through her hands, oh god she wasn't cut out for this.

"Alright, I'm going to go find us some stuff okay?" Renee said, digging into the glove compartment for the flashlight she always kept in there, "See if I can't bring us back something that isn't chex mix."

"Can I come?" Jada asked, bouncing on her seat. The image of blood soaked baby teeth came to mind, and Renee instantly thought better of it.

"No," she shook her head, slowly opening the car door, "It's late. You need to get your rest, I don't wanna deal with a grumpy Jada tomorrow morning, alright?"

"You're gonna leave me?" Why'd her eyes have to be so damn big?

"Just for a little bit. My sweater's in the back, you can use it as a blanket. I'm going to lock the doors, don't let anyone in but me, okay?" Jada nodded, the butterflies in her hair clacked together.

"Promise, you'll come back?"

"Promise."

She'd never loved the solid click of lock more than that moment, she didn't need a little girl's blood on her hands. With a reassuring smile and wave, she flicked on the flashlight and started down the road. More than a few people shot her dirty looks as her light hit their eyes, a few people kept staring blankly - she skipped those cars.

"Alrighty," she muttered to herself, "This one looks okay. It's a mom car, moms have kids, kids have shit. My kid needs shit." A big, shiny, suburban-mom van sat empty on the side of the road. The doors were closed and the windows tinted, but she should have been able to see some sort of movement if anything were in there. She still had that image of tiny little teeth smiling without lips burned into the back of her lids. Eyes wide open, she took a deep breath, and yanked the handle.

It was empty.

Quickly shining her light around the back seat she spotted a bright pink, kid sized suitcase and matching backpack. Both with Cinderella embroidered on the front. A couple Barbies sat on the middle seat, legs outstretched, seat belt covering them from hip to neck. Jackpot. There had to be some food in there somewhere... maybe the trunk? She'd grab the suitcase and bag first, she'd need something to lug it all back to the Camaro with.

Sighing, partially from exhaustion, partially from nerves she started to pull herself up into the backseat. Fancy suburban mom vans tended to be huge, and at five foot four she just wasn't. She hadn't even hit five four til her sophomore year, it had been hell climbing in and out of her Mom's monster of a leather seated kid carrier.

The backpack was closer. Right on top was a copy of The Chronicles of Narnia - it was a full collection, hardcover, deep blue chased with silver and gold filigree. She smiled, maybe if Jada was still awake she'd read her the first chapter. A quick glance through the suitcase confirmed it was filled with clothes - they'd be a little too big for Jada, but they'd work.

There was a metallic click behind her. She froze, toes poised just off the ground, and tried to push her heart back out of her throat.

"Back off, bitch, we saw it first." There was a belligerence to the thick, southern drawl that made her legs itch to run. She wasn't cut out for this.

Slowly, inch by inch, she let her feet fall flat against the asphalt, and turned, hands up, to look at him. Or both of them. They were both about the same height, but the one with the gun somehow seemed bigger. It wasn't just the fact that he had a pistol aimed at her head either - the other man looked younger, slouched slightly against an old beat up truck. His eyes couldn't seem to focus on any one thing for too long: the car, the man with the gun, the ground, his crossbow, her, the ground.

The bigger man fingered the trigger and she closed her eyes.

She wasn't cut out for this.

She wasn't cut out for big cities or interstate driving. She wasn't cut out for the dead, and she wasn't cut out for guns. She wasn't cut out for a little girl with butterflies in her hair.

They still had a couple granola bars, if she walked away now they'd be okay til tomorrow. Jada needed this though, needed something that could be hers again - something other than a blood soaked bear and pee stained pants. She needed a wardrobe to walk through til Renee could get her...where?

She wasn't cut out for this.

"Please." Her voice cracked a bit, but she was too scared to be embarrassed, "You can keep the food, okay? The food, and the gas, and whatever.I just, I just need a couple -"

"We saw it first," the big man interrupted her, "Innit that right, baby brother?" Big brother seemed pretty jumpy, every time his finger tensed around the trigger she flinched. There was this weird shine to his eyes, a smile that had been taped on. "Innit that right, baby brother?" He repeated himself, this time baby brother glanced at her, just for a second, and nodded stiffly once his eyes were firmly on the ground again. "What's in it's ours."

"I - I…." she stuttered out.

"Now get gone, 'for I start gettin' impatient."

"I -" A little more forcefully this time.

"I said! Get -"

"I just want the Cinderella suitcase!" She yelled.

Big brother blinked. Baby brother blinked. Renee breathed.

Someone screamed.


	2. At First

**Hey, here's the next chapter. Thanks to everyone who's added this to their favorites or alert list. Just watched Slabtown, and holy shit! **

**[POTENTIAL SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO AREN'T CAUGHT UP TO 5x04]**

**That was a good episode, I just love Beth so much. Like oh my god, her character development over the past couple seasons has been spectacular. So excited for next episode, Carol's my baby too I can't wait to see them kick ass together. I'm kind of thinking maybe Morgan's in the bushes with Daryl? Seeing as Carol ended up at the hospital I assume they got seperated. **

**[SPOILERS OVER]**

**Anyways, here's the next chapter. I would still love to get some reviews, I wanna know what you guys think. Rating remains for similar reasons. I hope you all enjoy! **

**Chapter Two: At First**

There had probably only been one walker at first. A straggler that crawled out of the woods, a little boy that had finally crawled free of a busted windshield, some poor bastard who left his car thinking he'd be better off roughing it.

There had only been one scream at first. They had begun to ripple out from there. Car doors slammed, people ran, they screamed - the same process would be repeated the next car up. People were running, but they didn't really know where or why. They grabbed their shit and ran into the woods, ran through the lines of cars, ran into the jaws of the curious dead.

It took a moment to process, the three of them standing as they had been. Her hands in the air with a gun in her face. Little brother reacted first, loading a bolt in his crossbow. His eyes never stayed in one place as he tried to pick out the dead from the living.

Big brother's gun went off. A corpse toppled down the embankment, bones cracking all the way to the road.

Jada.

The dead slowly shuffled in from both sides. A lot more were coming up from Atlanta, drawn by the noise. That little girl was all alone, trapped in a dark car with nothing but a teddy bear and some stranger's sweater.

The brothers could have the mom van. She turned to run, she needed to get back to the Camaro, back to Jada.

She didn't get as far as she would have liked. The dead weren't even the biggest obstacle, it was the living. A foot caught her shin, a knee jammed into her thigh, a pair of hands shoved her down out of the way as a river of people flooded through. A dangling backpack caught her on the shoulder, and already on her knees she started to go down.

Adrenaline had fogged up her vision, seeped like ice through her veins. Her heart was just about the only thing that was moving, beating out in a rhythmless blur. She needed to stand, get up before a sea of feet faded to dead grabbing hands. But each time she started to get her bearings another warm body knocked her back down.

A pair of rough hands gripped her under the arms and yanked up, dragging her back from the crowd.

"Jada," Renee yelled, trying to struggle away, "Jada, I need to get to Jada!" The stampede of people had begun to fade, disappearing farther up the road or off into the woods. Now it was the dead who made their way towards them, falling on the living stragglers, "Let me go!"

"Hush," a gruff voice replied, pulling her back towards that beat up truck. Big brother was popping off rounds, some of them were hitting their mark, some weren't. Renee had the feeling that he didn't really care. That grin was still plastered on, his eyes were still glazed over.

"Merle, cut it out!" Little brother growled from behind her. The farther away the majority of people got, the more interested the dead were in the few who had stayed behind. Particularly the one making all the racket. "Merle!"

"Let me go!" Renee yelled. Little brother swung her up into the truck bed.

"Merle! Get in the truck!" Merle listened this time, ducking into the cab. Little brother kept a straight face as he put bolts through the two closest walkers.

"Please, I need to get to her, she's just a kid!" Renee tried to climb down, but hands pushed her back.

"Ya ain't gonna be doin her no favors by leading a bunch a geeks to her, now get down!" He hissed, climbing in behind her, pushing her to the floor, and throwing an old blue tarp over them.

She couldn't see anything, but she could hear. Hear him breathing hard, hear the metallic hiss of a knife being unsheathed, the gurgling groans of the dead shuffling past, their hands banging on the cab - looking for Merle.

When she was little her dad would take her camping in the back of his truck. It was a bigger truck than this, a hell of a lot newer. At night they'd listen to the crickets and eat s'mores that he'd heat with an old zippo lighter 'cause it was too much work to make a fire.

They'd be wrapped up like baby birds in a nest of blankets and pillows, with zippo s'mores, and PB&Js, and he'd call her Punkin while she fell asleep on his chest.

She didn't know how long they waited for the dead to get bored. It was hard to tell time when it was so quiet. Hours could be minutes, minutes could be hours. Maybe, if she was lucky, Jada would have slept through all of this. Time didn't mean a damn thing when you were asleep. Renee's pulse was still going haywire, but she couldn't hear the walkers anymore.

Sitting up she shoved the tarp to the side, and leapt down. She could see the outline of the RV she'd been behind just before the bend in the road, Jada would be there. She'd have to be there. Renee didn't want to be the one who got some kid killed.

"Hey!" Little brother called, jumping out behind her, crossbow in hand, "Hey, what the fuck do you think you're doin?"

"Going back to my car. Or do you and your brother want that too?" She grumbled, stalking off into the dark. She must have dropped her flashlight somewhere in the chaos, but she didn't have to time to go looking for it.

Footsteps came up behind her. Little brother was glaring at cars as they passed. He was a quiet one, a lot quieter than his brother. Renee decided she liked that - his brother was a bit of an asshole. She'd met plenty of people like them, they were kind of hard to avoid when in the south. Renee had grown up in a nice suburban neighborhood, the kind with the big houses set apart by yards and oak trees, in the heart of rural North Carolina. Outside of that little manicured bubble though, her town was through and through hick.

Her neighborhood had been built to accommodate a sudden influx of scientists, and lawyers, and doctors for a research hospital that had been founded forty or fifty years back. That's where her parents worked, where their parents had worked. Mom was a researcher - psychological stuff, mostly - Dad was a doctor. The hospital wasn't exactly state of the art like it used to be, but her parents still made good money.

It was impossible to avoid the redneck culture though, it pervaded throughout the little North Carolina town regardless of class. They were your friends, your classmates, the guy you bought spicy slim-jims from at the gas station, cousins whose parents didn't do quite so well as yours. No matter who you were you were a redneck, just some were rednecks with perks. It was a question of who was going mudding in a jerry-rigged jeep, and who was going mudding in their daddy's new F-150.

However, there was also a pretty damned big difference between being a redneck, and being a piece of white trash. She knew exactly which camp Big Brother fell in, Merle appeared to be a grade-A asshole. Little Brother though, he was harder pin down, white trash with a bit of heart.

She could see the edge of her Camaro now, peeking out from behind the RV. Just as she was about to break into a run, Little Brother caught her shoulder, and pulled her back behind him.

That's when her heart dropped.

Little Brother raised the crossbow, signalling her to stay behind. The light in the old yellow Camaro was on, spilling out over the black racing stripes on the hood. The driver's side door was open, the passenger's window streaked with a bloody handprint. No corpses though - big or small.

"No." She rushed past him, "No, no, no. Jada! Jada!" She called out, ignoring the older man's pleas for her to shut the hell up. The car was empty. No Jada, no butterflies, no bear, no sweater. Just a box with two granola bars and a crumpled up bag of chex mix. No blood either, save that one streak outside the window. "I told her to stay put…" Renee whispered, more to herself than anyone else. Why had she left that damn kid alone? She'd known from the moment she met her that Jada wasn't the best at following instructions.

"C'mon," he said softly, "She went this way." He nodded towards the shoulder, and started walking. She didn't really have a choice but to follow.

"How the hell do you know that?"

"Footprints," he grumbled, pointing at the ground. Sure enough, just visible in the dim light from the Camaro, were little feet sized indents in the mud, "You got that flashlight still?"

"Does it look like it?" Renee snapped, holding up her empty hands. He looked at her, thumb going up to his teeth.

"I think I got one in the truck."

"No!" she said quickly, stepping out in front of him, "We can't go all the way back, she can't be that far!"

"Lady, look, it's been a couple hours. She ain't just gonna be twiddlin' her thumbs on a guardrail down the road. We'll find your little girl, but I can't do shit if I can't -"

"She's not mine," she interrupted, "She's just...she's just some kid."

"We'll find her," he said, quiet but firm, for some reason she believed him, "Just need to be able to see her damn trail."

With that he turned back towards the Camaro, crossbow slung across his back. She followed behind, eyes skimming over each dark car as they went, hoping that brown doe eyes would peer out the window at her. She'd promised Jada she was going to come back for her. She was going to keep that promise even if she had to spend the next few days combing the woods with redneck extraordinaire and his violent big brother.

They'd just passed the RV when a door opened.

"Are you Renee?"

She turned around to see an older man poking his head out the RV, it was hard to make out distinct features, but the salt and pepper beard - mostly salt - was easy enough to see. She glanced at Little Brother, and they made eye contact for a second before she nodded to the old man.

"Got someone in here who wants to see you."

Jada threw her arms around Renee's waist the moment she entered the RV, eliciting a couple aw's from the two women sitting by the table. She knelt down to hug her back, burying her face into the little girl's shoulder. Part of her was relieved they'd found Jada, that she'd been safe all along. Another part of her was just relieved that she didn't have to feel guilty anymore. Leaving a kid in a car during the apocalypse had to be just as bad as leaving one on a hot summer day.

Apparently she'd gotten scared, a walker had started banging on her window so she'd ran. The old man had seen her from the RV, and called her in. It was pretty obvious that she'd been crying, a lot, puffy, red eyes, and a crusty nose. However, any allegations that she had been anything less than a berserker would put the speaker on the receiving end of a menacing glare and a loud "nuh-uh". Being scared was a secret she kept to herself.

"Thank you," Renee said, "For taking her in, uh… I'm sorry I don't know your name."

"Dale," the old man said, "That's Andrea and her little sister Amy. Not relations of mine, apparently I've formed a habit of picking up hitchhikers," he teased. Amy and Andrea smiled, "Found them on the side of the road too."

Renee glanced down at Jada, still wrapped up in her sweater, teddy bear in hand. "It's nice to meet you, I guess you've already met Jada. I'm Renee, and this -" she trailed off. He was gone, not that she knew his name anyway, he was just Little Brother, Redneck Extraordinaire. "Is not here anymore…"

"Didn't really seem like the talkative type," Andrea mentioned.

"No. No I don't think he is," Renee nodded in agreement, glancing out the door looking for his shape weaving in and out of cars. She didn't find him though.

"Well, if you two don't want to stay in your car again. We got plenty of room in here," Dale offered. Renee didn't hesitate to accept.

* * *

><p>Andrea and Amy gave up the bed to them, they were guests after all. The sisters stretched out with blankets and pillows on the floor. Dale said he wasn't tired, that he'd keep an eye out for them. Renee wasn't sure if she believed him about the tired part, but she was desperate to sleep herself. It had been days since she'd been in a bed - the dinky old RV wasn't the Marriott or anything, but it was a hell of a lot better than the backseat of the Camaro.<p>

Jada crawled in beside her, teddy clutched to her chest. It suddenly occurred to Renee, for all the shit she'd been through for that bear, she didn't even know its name.

"Jada, what do you call your bear?" She asked, eyes fluttering.

"Franklin," the little girl replied in the same exhausted tone.

Renee nodded. It was quiet for a long time. For a moment she thought the girl had gone to sleep.

"I'm sorry I didn't stay in the car," she said in a small voice.

"I'm sorry I didn't bring you with me."

They didn't say much after that, just slowly drifted off.

* * *

><p>When Renee woke, Jada had somehow made her way into the crook of her arm, Franklin jammed in between. His little glass eyes staring up at her, they looked pained, but maybe that was because he'd had his arm ripped off. She smiled to herself, untangling little legs and arms from big legs and arms; and untangling big legs and arms from sheets, she stood up. Warm sunlight filtered through the windows. Outside she could hear people moving around, a few voices, but the omnipresent of hum of car engines was gone.<p>

The RV was empty, but outside she heard laughter. With one last glance at a sleeping Jada, she started to leave, but thought better of it. Instead she crouched down next to the little girl, and shook her.

"Hey, how you doin?" She asked.

"Tired," Jada managed to get out, before rolling her face back into the pillows. Renee smiled.

"You can keep sleeping, sweetie. I just wanna let you know that I'll be right outside if you need me, okay?"

A little camp fire had been started on the road, surrounded with broken chunks of asphalt. A little pot of what looked like ramen was boiling in the middle, steam rising into the less-hot-than-it-could-be morning air. The Camaro was just as she left it. Down the road she could see the distant figure of Merle, sitting on tailgate of their old blue Ford. She had expected to see more bodies, with all the mayhem last night, though she supposed that bodies had gotten awful good at walking away recently.

"Morning, Renee," Amy said cheerfully, "Noodles are almost done."

"We don't have anymore chairs, but I can -" Dale started to stand.

"No, no its cool. I can take the ground," the redhead said, plopping down between Andrea and Dale to wait for breakfast.

"How's Jada doing?" Andrea asked, starting to pull out brightly colored plastic bowls.

"Fine I think. Kid's pretty tough. She's young though, not sure how much of this has really sunk in for her," she said softly, glancing back at the RV, "I think she's starting to figure it out though. She's already given up on finding her family, I mean she hasn't said anything, but she stopped really talking about them after a couple days on the road."

"I'm assuming you aren't related?" Dale asked.

"Nah. Found her trying to get out of Atlanta, she'd been in the same hotel as me. She'd dropped her stuffed bear, gone back for it, I guess her parents were too preoccupied with the other kids - it was a pretty big family - to notice she'd fallen behind. When I got to her there was a walker on her, I think she thought it was trying to take that stupid bear from her….the thing ripped one of its arms off trying to get at her."

"You kill it?" Andrea asked, looking mildly impressed.

"No, no I just pushed it, grabbed her hand and started running. She wanted to go after her parents, but I told her we'd find them on the road. No idea where they'd gone, wasn't worth getting eaten to go on a goose chase 'round Atlanta."

"Well, she's lucky to have you," Dale said, starting to scoop out bowls of ramen.

Renee scoffed, "I almost got her killed last night."

"Well we learn from our mistakes, don't we?" Dale asked. Renee decided it was rhetorical question, and dug into her noodles.

* * *

><p>Jada was still asleep when Renee headed back to the Camaro, it was only one car behind, it wasn't like she was going all that far. It was quiet now anyways, most of the people had either fled into the woods, died, or both. There were no walkers to speak of, at least not ones that had gotten free of their seat belts - just a road full of ghost cars, and a handful of survivors here and there. A few cars down a woman with short gray hair was wiping food off a girl's mouth, they were both skinny things, the woman stood as if she were older than she was. The girl had to be twelve, but looked about as nervous as a cat.<p>

Maybe she'd like to play with Jada. She was a good bit older, but it was better than no kids at all.

The door to the Camaro was still open, blood still stained the window. She was going to have to clean that up at some point. First though, first she wanted some clean clothes. She still needed to find some for Jada, though she wasn't sure how keen she was to go interact with the rednecks again. Little Brother was okay, but Merle was a dick. There had to be other cars full of kids stuff, plenty had been abandoned last night.

Sighing, she popped the trunk and went to rifle through her suitcase. Pulling out a suitable looking tanktop and shorts she slammed the trunk, and nearly screamed. _Fucking hell he's quiet, _she thought as she caught her breath. There was Little Brother, like right there. The only reason she hadn't seen him in the first place was cause the trunk was in the way, and now that she could see him she had to try her hardest not to laugh.

She hadn't been able to see him all that clearly in the dark. She'd been able to tell he was one of those tough guy rednecks, the ones who would spend days in the woods not showering, and then get home and take a smoke while they rubbed themselves in bacon or some shit. From the look of the layers of grime on him, he certainly hadn't been bothering with personal hygiene - though to be fair none of them had. He was scruffy, but she supposed he wasn't all that bad looking. He had pretty eyes, she thought, during a brief moment of eye contact, but when he noticed the repressed amusement he turned to scowl at the ground.

Slung over his shoulder was a pink Cinderella backpack, matching suitcase trailing at his side. It was positively adorable. He shrugged it off and held it out.

"For the kid," he muttered.

"Thank you, really," she said, a hint of a smile on her lips, "for everything. I don't think I got a chance...for last night -"

"S'nothin…" he mumbled again, running a hand over his neck and up through his hair. He stood there awkwardly for a moment, pretty blue eyes unable to fixate on anything. First he'd look at the ground, then the bags, then her, the Camaro, the ground, her. The silence was awkward. He bit at his thumb, nodded to her car, "That thing take a lotta gas?"

"Yeah." A hint of exasperation crept into her voice, "Don't know what I'm gonna do when it hits empty, it's getting pretty close."

"Ya know how to siphon tanks?" He asked. She shook her head. He nodded, turned, and started to walk back towards his truck. Man sure knew how to make conversation.

"Hey! Wait, you never told me your name!" He muttered something in response, "Errol?"

"Daryl," he snapped, at least she could hear him now, "Daryl Dixon."

"Nice to meet you Daryl, I'm Renee Waller."

He nodded stiffly and walked away. Amazing, man had been more socially adept when surrounded by dead people, than he was just talking. Renee shook her head and smiled at the bags he'd left her. Jada was going to be happy.

**Well there's the second chapter! I hope you guys liked it. I'd love to get some feedback from everyone, or just strike up a conversation over message if you want. Hope to get the next chapter up soon. **

**See ya soon!**


	3. Gridlock

**So much thanks to everyone who's been reading the story, and to anyone who has added me to your follow/favorite list. Special thanks to Grey'sFanAllTheWay and thedeathberry911 for the reviews, so glad you're enjoying the story. Well, here's chapter three, I hope you guys are looking forward to more Renee and Jada, and more of that awkward lil'shit of a redneck that we all love. Same ratings apply as before for language, violence etc… **

**I want to know what you guys are thinking! So keep the reviews coming, positive and constructive feedback are welcome in kind. I reply to most reviews, especially if you haven't reviewed before. Well here we go, I hope you guys enjoy! **

**Chapter 3 - Gridlock**

Jada liked her new clothes. They hung a bit funny, but whoever had left them behind had had one hell of penchant for sequins. She'd put on the sparkliest shirt she could find, and strutted about all day as a princess. Now, crowded around the fire, the four adults smiled and laughed and cheered as the little girl spun and danced, sequin shirt coming to life in the light of the flames. It was nice to see her like this - like she must have been before - bravado and smiles. Renee would bet that she was the kind of girl who put on impromptu dance performance for her family, attendance would have been mandatory. Renee had been like that, rushing her parents and her brother into the living room so she could put on a self-made routine to some pop song. She'd hit her brother for laughing at it once - she'd been a pretty violent child.

Though she didn't really blame her brother for laughing. Renee had never been graceful. Jada was though. Maybe she would be a dancer one day, when the world got put back on its feet. Renee could come watch her perform in some big ballet company, or on broadway - tell everyone that that was the little girl she took care of when everything went to shit. She wouldn't be a singer though, that was another thing the two had in common - couldn't hold a damn tune to save their lives.

There were a couple other little fires strewn here and there along the road. She could pick out which one was the Dixon brother's, she could hear Merle's raucous laughter without even trying. A lot of her wished he'd shut up, but it would be music to the dead's ears - which was exactly the problem. The grey haired woman and her family were a few cars down, Renee thought she'd heard an argument earlier - a pretty one sided argument, but also loud enough that nearby walkers could have heard. It put her on edge. Camped not too much further down was an attractive couple, and a little boy that she guessed was their son. There were a few more fires up past the Dixon's, but she hadn't had a chance to see who was up there yet.

She didn't like being on the road. The trees were dark and foreboding, looming in from either side. It wasn't the dark that scared her so much as the things in it - she'd been fine with night time before all this, but that was back before corpses walked. If she was in just the right spot she could see the burnt out shell of Atlanta, stark black against the indigo horizon. It was an ill-reminder. The worst part about the road though, was the cars. More than a few were nothing more than glorified coffins for walkers, they'd moan and struggle and beat their fists against windows as you passed.

No one seemed to want to do anything about them. Too much effort to break the glass, too much risk to open the door. So the walkers stayed, and Renee was left feeling like a lobster in a tank - nothing but a thin piece of glass separating her from hungry eyes.

"I'm not sure how safe we all are, out here on the highway." Dale voiced her concerns, waving his fork around as he spoke, "We're too close to the city."

Renee glanced in the direction of Atlanta, the air still smelled of smoke, "Yeah, too many of those things are wandering around - and after last night...but where else are we going to go?"

"Or how?" Andrea asked through a mouthful of ramen, and then swallowed, "I mean, it's not like we can get the RV out of here, too many cars in the way - we could see if could put up some sort of fence around our section of road? Just wait it out til the Guard gets here or something?"

"Nah - we don't have the tools to do that - at least not to make a good fence. It shouldn't be too hard to clear the cars out if we get everyone together. There's gotta be at least twenty people out here. I was thinking tomorrow we could go around, talk to everybody - if we all work together we can push the cars to the side...get moving again...there's an old quarry, 'bout thirty minutes out of the city, up towards the mountains, we could go there." Dale explained enthusiastically.

"Great...more woods." Renee didn't really like not being able to see what was coming. She hated horror movies for that reason, jump scares just weren't her thing.

Dale shook his head, smiling,"It won't be so bad. Farther out from the city, up on higher ground, away from towns, won't be too many walkers up there."

Andrea didn't seem quite so convinced, "The emergency broadcasts were saying the Guard was going to Atlanta, we should wait for them. They'll have food, and medicine, proper shelter while all this shit is sorted out."

"Amy come dance with me!" Jada called out, doing another spin. Jada had really taken a shine to the older girl, she played with her like Renee, except she didn't make her have a bed time. Win win. The adults were quiet for a moment, as Amy got up and went off to play with Jada. Renee closed her eyes, listening to the little girl giggle, and the crackle of the fire, and the soft singing of crickets.

"They were already there," Renee said softly.

"What?" Renee couldn't tell if Andrea's tone was shocked or angry.

"The National Guard, they were in Atlanta, the day I got out. Had set up a few refugee centers, I think. I was trying to get me and Jada to one, but I ran into a few roadblocks...got turned around a couple times, ended up on the highway instead."

"Well where the hell are they now?"

Renee glanced towards the burnt city, "I'd assume dead."

The silence that followed would have been longer if Renee hadn't decided to get up, it was getting late. Last time she'd asked Dale it was eight o'clock, Jada needed to be getting to bed. Dale had offered to let them stay in the RV at night, she was grateful, sleeping in the Camaro had been getting more than a little cramped.

Jada complained when she was packed off to her little makeshift bed, a bundle of blankets and pillows on one of the dining area benches, but didn't put up a big fuss. It wasn't too dark yet, summer nights were long in Georgia, so once Jada had been tucked in with Franklin Renee headed back outside.

"I think I'm gonna go search through some cars, see if I can't find a few things that could be useful if we head out of here. I wondering if I could borrow a flashlight? I dropped mine the other night," Renee said, glancing over at Dale.

"It's getting kind of late, sure you don't want to wait til morning?" Dale asked, sounding every bit the worried parent.

"Nah, I could use a walk right now." She offered a smile, which he halfway returned before muttering about going to get that flashlight for her. Amy had come back to the fire. Leaving one of the chairs vacant she had opted to sit between her sister's knees, eyes closed while Andrea braided her hair for her. They looked peaceful.

* * *

><p>She'd loaded up a bag with canned food, picking up spaghettios and ravioli as she moved car to car - she didn't want to impose on Dale's ramen longer than she had too. There were batteries too, a fancy looking hunting knife that she figured would be useful, a pair of sneakers for Jada, a pair of hiking boots for herself, one of those little tamagotchi things - honestly she was surprised they still made them - was put in the bag for Jada...hopefully the batteries would last a while.<p>

The dusky post-sunset light was fading, and one by one stars were flickering on in the sky. That was one thing she liked about all this: she'd never seen a more beautiful night - no light pollution to block out the stars. It was probably time to turn back, she didn't really fancy the idea of stumbling on a walker in the dark, but something in one of the cars had caught her attention.

It was a tent. All wrapped up in it's long rectangular package, plastic shining under the flashlight like a beacon of hope. She and Jada could use a tent, not have to cram into an RV that had been built for two. She set her bag on the ground with a soft series of clinks, as the cans settled against each other. She would just test the doors, if they were locked she'd come back early - maybe Dale could help, she was sure he would be getting tired of the two extra people in his RV pretty soon.

The car was an SUV, the type where the trunk was open to the main cab, so she had plenty of options for getting in. She tried the trunk first, locked. Back doors were next, both locked. Passenger's door, locked. She was about to give up hope when the driver's side popped open. Scanning through the lock buttons on the door she found the one for the trunk, and pushed it. Nothing. She pushed it again, still nothing, damn thing must have been jammed. Sighing she slid into the drivers seat, and then, hunched over, she made her way through to the third row of seats.

"Alrighty," she said softly to herself, the tent was poking over from the trunk into the cab. Gingerly she grabbed it and pulled, "Damn it," she muttered, it was stuck. With a sigh she pulled herself up, and laid out over the back of the seats. The headrests bit uncomfortably into her ribs as she shone the flashlight around. There - down at the bottom - one of the case handles had been closed into the door, probably was what had jammed it.

She reached out to tug at it, see if it was loose enough to just pull out. She strained, and wriggled, but no luck - she was just too damn short.

"Okay," she grumbled, sat up, and then laid out farther across the seat. This time her thighs were pressed between the headrests as she reached for the handle. She was so close. Just a little...bit...farther...her fingers were just about close around it, when fingers closed around her. Clouded eyes met hers, and she screamed.

She braced her legs against the headrests as the corpse tried to yank her into the back with it. It was a woman, half covered in a blanket - someone who got bit, got sick, and then left behind to turn on her own. Renee shrieked again as she felt herself starting to slip, if she fell now she fell into the walker's arms. The thing was snarling and gurgling, teeth bared - the woman it had been had had a really white smile. Without thinking her free hand grabbed at the first solid object it could find, and swung.

There was sickening crunch as the thing's jaw snapped sideways, and dead fingers released her wrist just for a moment. It was all she needed, she scrambled back and tipped over into the little aisle between the seats in the middle row. Her head had slammed into a plastic armrest as she went down, and she found herself watching in a daze as the walker slowly dragged itself over the seats.

The knife. She had a knife outside. The thing tumbled over into the cab, grabbing at her ankles as she pushed herself up and stumbled towards the open driver's door. She'd almost made it over the middle console when it grabbed her calf, she kicked out, catching it in the face - she heard a nose crunch - and she tumbled forward. Her shoulder crashed into the steering wheel and the horn blared once before she threw herself, hands first, down to the road. The horn continued to go off as the walker pulled itself through the drivers seat, and Renee crawled over the asphalt to the bag she had left.

She could hear distant shouts, but they weren't close enough - the body gave a dry hiss as it tumbled to the ground. The knife, where was it? She rifled frantically through the bag, hands going over can after can of food, but no knife. Cold hands were on her ankle, then her calf, her thigh. She kicked and struggled, no knife, no knife, where was the knife?

The thing was coming up onto her back now, there was no more time. She gripped a can, and tried to swing around - the walker was too heavy to land a good hit, but she'd knocked it off balance. With a yell she flipped it off of her, and brought the can down again and again and again. The bone crunched wetly into brain, blood spraying up dark and thick. Again and again and again, until it was red-black pulp.

The can clanked onto the asphalt as she fell back off the still body. Footsteps slid to a stop just as she heaved up the day's ramen, one, twice, the third was nothing but bile. Renee spit, not moving from her crouched position for a few moments as she tried to stop shaking. It wasn't working all that well. Her tangled red hair fell over her face, she was glad she didn't have to have anyone see her face yet.

"Hey, hey you okay?" Dale asked, crouching down next to her placing a hand on her shoulder. She looked up, breathing heavily as she tried to clear away the taste of vomit and the smell of rot - five sets of eyes were watching her. Andrea stood right behind Dale, her face somewhere between concern and disgust; just a ways off was the man from the attractive couple with a son, he had a pretty heavy duty rifle on him - finger still on the trigger; Merle almost looked amused; It was hard to tell what Daryl was thinking, but his eyes weren't shifting place to place for once, they stayed on her.

"You bit?" Attractive-couple-man asked, jerking his rifle towards her.

"No," she breathed out, "No I don't think so."

"What happened?" Dale asked, "You made one hell of a racket."

"Didn't see the walker in the trunk 'til it had me, I'd gone through the front - trunk door's jammed." Renee said, starting to stand. Dale helped her to her feet, keeping her steady once she was up - her legs felt like jelly. She glanced down at the walker and did her best not to gag again.

"Jada?" She looked at Dale and Andrea.

"She's asleep," Andrea assured her, "Amy's in the RV with her."

Merle gave a low whistle that faded into a laugh that fell somewhere between mirth and mocking, "Damn, girly, for a skinny lil' bitch you pulled a number on that geek. Really gets your blood flowin' dunnit?" He grinned, tongue flicking out over his lips.

She raised a middle finger, "Fuck off, Dixon." With that she pulled away from Dale, and staggered past the dead walker to her dropped things - the knife had fallen out, the hilt visible just under the bag. She shook her head, smiling weakly, of course it had been right there. Quickly she grabbed the knife, stalked back to the SUV, slid open one of the back doors, and clambered in.

"Renee," Andrea called, "Renee what the hell are you doing?"

"I'm getting my damn tent!" she yelled. Outside she could hear Merle laughing.

Swiftly she headed back to the back, leaned over into the trunk, knife outstretched, and cut the handle. Knife resheathed she tucked it into the back of her pants, and started pulling on the tent, it moved now, but not the way she wanted it too. Pull this way it got stuck on the ceiling, that way it got stuck on the seats. Back and forth she yanked and pulled, and nothing.

"Stupid!" She jerked it back, it hit her in the nose and she slammed it forward, "Fucking!" She yanked it sideways, "Piece," It caught on a lawn chair, "of shit!"

Merle sounded like he was in tears.

Someone stepped into the van, slid around behind her, and took the tent from her hands. It was Daryl. Gently wiggling it back and forth, he worked it free in seconds, and started to slide it out.

"You're gonna break the damn thing if ya keep slammin' it around like that," he said gruffly, as he balanced it on his shoulder and stooped his way back outside. She couldn't be sure if she felt grateful or pissed at him for making it look so fucking easy. Taking one last glance back at the trunk she picked up Dale's fallen flashlight, and a couple sleeping bags before following Daryl out of the SUV.

* * *

><p>She'd been too tired to deal with all the blood when she finally got back to the RV, Dale and Andrea helping her lug her new things back to their little camp. There was a pretty heavy spattering over her face, neck, and arms - her shirt was pretty worse for wear as well. With stiff limbs Renee had carried herself over to the Camaro with an old pillow Dale said she could keep, and collapsed into the back seat. She didn't think Jada should wake up to see her coated in blood and brains.<p>

She was sore and her head hurt something awful when she woke up the next morning - it was pretty early though, the sun only just painting the world with an orange glow. Dale was already up, offering her a wet towel so that she could go clean off last night's blood.

Feeling fresher if no less like she'd been hit by a truck, she settled down for a can of fruit cocktail and a busy morning. Dale still wanted to go around talking people into heading for the quarry, and supposing everyone agreed, they'd have to spend the rest of god knows how long clearing a decent path off the road.

It was going to be a long day.

* * *

><p>Daryl blinked slowly, staring up at the orange streaked sky. Silently he threw back the old poncho he'd used as a makeshift blanket, and lowered himself down from the back of the truck. Merle was still passed out on the other side of the truck bed, he'd found a bottle of whiskey while rummaging around last night and gotten shit faced drunk. Half the bottle was left, top off, cradled against his side like a baby. If he rolled over it would spill, but Merle was pretty quiet sleeper when he was wasted. It was when he was sober that he would kick and roll, talked sometimes too.<p>

Merle's bike was sat next to the truck, they'd taken it out of the back the night everyone had gone and panicked so that they could sleep. It had stayed down there, wasn't like they were going much of anywhere.

Taking his crossbow and a rag, he settled on the tailgate to clean his weapon. Daryl wasn't really sure how long they'd be sticking around on the road - maybe he'd go out for a bit today, see if he could catch some squirrel. Merle had been talking recently, wanted to try and rip some the others on the road off. Maybe not Officer Dickhead, he was too jumpy, but the old man with RV, the black guy, and the chinaman up the road seemed like good targets. Merle said he'd seen Peletier hitting his wife, some mousey little woman who'd had a daughter with him - they hadn't decided whether they should steal from them or not.

Merle wanted that piece of shit, Ed, to get hit with a bit of karma; Daryl wanted to make sure that lady and her kid wouldn't be the ones who'd get hit instead.

Footsteps were coming towards him from the direction of the RV. He glanced up once, and then back at his crossbow. It was the redhead, hair like fire in the rising sun - Renee, she'd said her name was Renee.

"Morning," she said, a smile in her voice. He kept cleaning an already spotless stock, and grunted in what he deemed a 'good enough' response. She looked better than she had last night. The blood was gone, she had fresh clothes, though there were a couple bruises up her forearms and another across her temple. Didn't know why she kept botherin' with him - though when he thought about, he'd probably done more botherin' with her than she with him. He glanced at Merle, still sound asleep, and started cleaning invisible dirt from the flight groove.

"Dale wanted me to talk to you and your brother." She was quiet for a while, waiting for him to say something, when he didn't she continued, "There's a quarry, not too far from here. It's up on the mountain, out of the way of people - shouldn't be too many walkers." She'd looked so small when they'd gotten to her, retching and shaking, it didn't take her too long to bounce back though - he was pretty sure Merle had taken a liking to her. Didn't stop him from wanting to take her shit, but he liked her. "If we get everyone together, work as a team to move these cars, we'd be able to get going again."

"And then what? Hold hands 'round the fire and get our kumbayaya's out?"

"No," a tired edge crept into her voice, "You and your brother are more than welcome to leave on your own. You still ain't going anywhere while we're stuck in gridlock. We need help."

"We got the bike," he nodded over to Merle's motorcycle.

"Just you. And your brother. And all your stuff. On a bike?"

He shrugged.

She rolled her eyes, "You're an idiot, Dixon." With that she passed him and kept heading down the road, "We start clearing cars in a couple hours!" she called back, footsteps disappearing into the distance.

Merle woke up an hour or so later, squinting and cursing at the sun. Daryl had decided not to go hunting, instead he'd sharpened his knives.

"Bunch'a people gonna start clearin' out some o' these cars." Daryl said, gliding his favorite blade - a long hunting knife - across the wetstone.

"And?"

"Headin' up to some quarry the old fart in the RV knows about."

"And?"

"We been invited. Could stay with'em up there, s'posed to be in the mountains, ain't too far." Daryl wiped the blade down and re-sheathed it, "Figured you wouldn't wanna, still should help out, get this piece of shit movin' again." He knocked on the side of the truck bed.

"An who the hell invited us?" Merle asked with a skeptical laugh.

"Renee."

"The redhead? Mmm, if I could get my hands on her...she's a piece of work that girl." Daryl didn't say anything, he'd heard Merle be a hell of a lot more vulgar than that. Actually he was being pretty tame, Daryl shook his head, must've been half asleep still - he wouldn't have wanted his jackass rep ruined. "You gotta thing for her? Been hangin round that girl real close last couple day."

"I ain't been hangin off anything," Daryl growled, "Ain't my fault she's a hopeless mess."

"Now what's this?" Merle sat up grinning, "You don't just wanna fuck her? What got plans to marry the bitch or somethin'?"

Daryl glared at him, "Shut up, Merle."

Merle started laughing, "Lil' baby Darylina, wanna be takin out a few geeks on his way home in monkey suit on a friday afternoon? Nine to five job and sweet lil' piece of ass waitin at home for ya? You gettin domestic on me, Baby Brother?"

"I said shut up, Merle!" He snapped, chucking a can of beans at his head. Merle ducked, laughing as the beans skittered across the road.

"Nah, that quarry might not be so bad an idea. Wait til erryone's feelin' all safe, comfortable. Might even be able to bag Officer Dickbag's shit while he ain't looking. Make it a hell of a lot easier on us - all that shit in one place, no runnin up and down the road.

"So we going?"

"Yeah Baby Brother, we're going."

* * *

><p>It took the rest of the day, and the better part of the next to clear a path all the way through to the exit they needed to take. Some cars had keys left in them, those were driven to the side. Others just had to be thrown out of park and rolled off the road. The cars with the walkers in them were the tricky ones. Some of the dead could be ignored, they'd just strain and growl from their seat belts while the car was rolled away. A few needed to be dealt with - usually by one of the Dixons or Shane as she'd learned attractive-couple-man was called.<p>

As late afternoon rolled around Renee found herself packing the Camaro with what would fit. Dale had agreed to let her store her tent in the RV when they weren't using it. She was worried about the gas situation, she was getting dangerously close to empty - she knew Dale would let her and Jada ride in the RV, but she hated the idea of leaving her dad's Camaro behind.

There was another family with kids, the Morales', they were nice. Jada was off playing with their daughter and a few of the other kids.

She was almost set to leave, just the bag of food and they'd be all packed. With a heavy sigh she straightened, closed the car door, and turned around nearly jumping out of her skin. There was Daryl again.

"Remind me to teach ya how to get your own," he said, handing her a can of gas, "I ain't gonna be your errand boy."

"I just didn't really ask you to be...but um...thanks." Renee blinked, taking the can.

"I'm gonna want that can back," he said, and then turned and walked towards his truck. Well….at least she had gas now.

The ride to the quarry was pretty uneventful. Jada was a bit upset that she'd been shunned to the back seat, but they'd be going a good bit faster than a couple miles per hour now. The quarry itself was beautiful, crystal blue waters at the bottom of carved out cliffs.

"Can we go swimming?" Jada asked, bouncing up and down.

"You know how?"

"Uh huh, used to be on the swim team. I was in heat one in all my meets - Mama always said I was really good."

"Well then I don't see why not. Just make sure I'm with you if you do, okay?"

Jada nodded.

* * *

><p>The tents had been set up by the time the sun was starting to set. Up at their little campsite they had a gorgeous view - miles of countryside marred only by the smoking remains of Atlanta. Renee had put their tent close to the RV, pretty much everyone stayed pretty close - save the Peletiers and the Dixons. They were in sight, but not in the main group.<p>

She'd set up the sleeping bags and their suitcases full of clothes, their food was in the corner, the knife was on Renee's belt. The Chronicles of Narnia, the barbies, Franklin, and the tamagotchi were on top of Jada's little bed. Jada herself was changing into her PJs as Renee looked for something for dinner. Moving things about in the cooler she saw a bit of bright orange down at the bottom - the Reese's, she'd almost forgotten about them.

"Hey Jada, you wanna go sit outside for a bit? I've got a treat for us." Renee smiled.

Jada's eyes got real wide when she pulled the candy out, they'd each have two. It was a little squished, but tasted just as good. The two of them sat in silence, enjoying the cool summer evening and the peanut butter-chocolate goodness as they watched the city. The smoke wasn't that thick, ugly black anymore, it was white - catching the brilliant colors of the sunset as it streamed into the air.

Renee smiled as she bit into her second cup, sharing her "you got out of Atlanta alive" treat with her little buddy.

She'd worked a lot harder for that damn Reese's than she'd expected to.

**Well I hope you guys enjoyed! How do you think I've been doing handling the characterization of all the characters? Especially Merle and Daryl, since I did some of Daryl's POV this chapter. I hope to hear back from you guys! I take reviews positive or constructive (Actually constructive would be great, I want to know what I can do better). **

**See ya soon!**


	4. The Kumbayayas

**Here we go, chapter four. I hope you guys are liking it, I want to thank everyone who has added this story to their follow/favorite lists. Special thanks to SilverAdvenger12, redangel2463, Black Roses Wilt, and XXBlackfireXX for the reviews. I still haven't really figured out where I'm going with this story, it'll follow the show's plot though I haven't quite decided how strongly - there's still going to be another chapter or two before I get around to episode one, so I guess I don't have to worry about it quite yet. Updates are going to start getting less consistent - I've been sick the past couple days and out of school, but I'm going to try to keep updates to around once a week. **

**I hope you guys are enjoying the story, and I hope to hear some feedback from you guys! **

**Chapter 4 - The Kumbayayas**

It had been two weeks since they'd made it to the quarry. It would be two more days til Renee's little supply of canned food ran out - maybe three if she skipped a couple meals and left her share to Jada. She frowned, staring at the six cans left - two black beans, two ravioli, one spaghetti, and a small can of tuna. Her stomach was grumbling, she'd already been rationing it the best she could, but the supplies were going to give out - and a hell of a lot sooner than she'd like.

Jada was outside, probably playing with Carl, Sophia, and a couple of the other kids in the camp. Renee had considered asking some of the other families if they had any more food, but it wasn't all that likely, no one had been leaving camp so everyone would be running dry real quick. Or at least everyone but the Dixons, they'd been in and out of the woods constantly since they'd arrived - she could smell meat cooking over their fire almost every night. They didn't seem all that keen to share though.

Well, it wasn't like she was going to make more food by thinking about it.

The tent closed with a cheery zip. It was starting to get late, the orange sky fading to purple. The kids were all sat around a little fold out table by the RV, a deck of cards between them. They were laughing about something, Jada had that self confident grin on her face - the one she got every time someone acknowledged something she did right. She must have told the joke. A smile ghosted over her lips, but it was quickly replaced by a frown - the Dixons were cooking again.

It was in that moment that she desperately wished she'd let her Dad take her hunting. Renee had a basic understanding of how to use a rifle, but she'd only ever shot at targets. Dad had always said she'd been interested in hunting until she was four or five. She'd begged and pleaded, but he always said she'd been too young. It was Bambi that changed her mind, every time she thought about leveling a gun at an animal all she could see were crying baby deer. At this point she'd be willing to eat Bambi himself.

Her brother was good at hunting, guns and bows, but he was in Los Angeles - he couldn't exactly run on over with some deer steaks for her.

Maybe she'd ask someone to babysit for her? She could take the Camaro back down to the traffic jam they'd pushed out of - there had to be more food there. She still had a couple more days to worry about it. Jada waved as Renee approached and she waved back before going to sit around the fire with some of the others.

It was an unspoken rule that people didn't have dinner outside of their family units. Too much worry that you'd have something someone else didn't, that someone else would know you were going without. Just made it easier to live together - they were stronger in numbers, but so far it didn't seem like anyone was going for the 'kumbayaya's' as Daryl had put it. They laughed and chatted with each other, they did laundry side by side, sat around the fire in the evenings. They all lived together, but surviving was a private matter.

"So what'd you do?" T-Dog asked, fiddling absentmindedly with an old swiss army knife.

"What?" Renee asked, taking a seat next to Lori.

"Before all this shit, what'd you do?"

"I was a student, Davidson College in North Carolina. Though I don't think that's really changed or anything, I'll be going back - once all this blows over - finish up my junior and senior years."

"You think everything's gonna go back to normal?" Glenn asked from his spot on her other side. She liked Glenn, he was nice - funny actually - she was pretty sure Jada had a bit of a crush on him. Though he was a bit cooler with the kids than well...everyone else...he was nice, but he was just so awkward sometimes. A fish out of water...living in a desert.

"I mean its got to right? Atlanta fell, but...D.C. or New York, the rest of the world? We're pretty cut off from everything, but that doesn't mean it's all gone, right?"

"Yeah," Shane started from his place across the fire, he was cleaning his gun again - she'd never seen him use it, but he certainly did clean it a lot, "Atlanta just wasn't prepared for that kinda shit. Damn place couldn't handle a snowstorm."

"I dunno man," T-Dog laughed, "You ever driven in the snow? That shit's scary." A wave of chuckles spread around the group, apparently the feeling was mutual - they were from the south after all.

"The military bases have probably held out," Shane continued with a smile as the laughter faded, "just gotta wait for government to get it together."

"Oh, it's them we're waiting on?" Dale said, feigning sudden realization, "Well you better sit tight, folks. We'll be here awhile." Smiles lit up around the fire again.

This was the nice part, the living. With a soft smile she leaned her head back, closed her eyes, and just listened to the conversation. In her head her family was living too, not just as in they hadn't gotten eaten, but they were happy. Her parents were probably getting that vacation they'd always been talking about - just the two of them and the beach house, it would be romantic. Dad might be fishing more than Mom had expected for a romantic get away, but they'd be well fed, and smiling, and together.

Maybe her brother had more time for surfing now, he'd taken that up once he got to California.

That's why they all got around the campfire every night, talking about what had been and what would be. They needed something that wasn't now, that wasn't counting cans alone in your tent with your head in your hands.

Renee took in a deep breath, catching yet another wiff of whatever the Dixon's had over their fire. With a sigh she lolled her head to the side so she could look at them. For a while it had seemed that Daryl had formed a habit of giving her things, and then they'd gotten to the quarry, she'd given him an empty gas can, and they hadn't really spoken since. Right now she was wishing he'd start playing generous again. He and his brother were nothing more than vague outlines in the dying light, Daryl had a rare smile on his lips, Merle was laughing.

She had a feeling that they had right now was what she hoped her family had. Life hadn't changed for the Dixons, they were just on an extended vacation - lord knew that rednecks loved their hunting trips.

The group as a whole wasn't exactly all that cohesive. A little over thirty people in all - that thirty was split down into little groups. Some were familial, some were friendships, a few (like her and Jada, or Dale, Andrea, and Amy) were of the 'shit just kinda happened and here we are' variety. There were a few loners too, Glenn for starters was pretty cool, there were others who were kind of sketchy. There was one man who had been visiting Atlanta from somewhere in Indiana, he helped move the cars, set up his tent, and no one had spoken to him again.

His tent wasn't pitched too far from her and Jada's, so she'd seen him a few times, he was too shifty for her liking. It made her nervous having him that close to Jada, but she couldn't exactly go over and tell him to pack his shit and move back a hundred yards.

It was probably time to get Jada some dinner - Renee had decided it would be best if she didn't eat tonight. The thought of going back out there to look for food didn't sit so well with her, and if she could put it off for a while longer, she would.

"Jada, sweetie, why don't you come back to the tent?" she called as she headed up from the fire to the kid's table.

"But, Renee," she stretched out Renee's name as long as she could, "I'm winning!"

"Are not!" Carl protested.

"Am too!" She shot back.

"Jada -"

"Please, Renee! Pleaaaseee!" Renee sighed. She couldn't decide if the kid was stubborn, or if she was just weak willed.

"Alright, but the next time I ask, you better come, alright?"

Jada nodded vigorously, and Renee sighed, waving goodbye to the other adults before heading back to the tent. Jada could play a while longer while she figured out what they'd do about dinner. How little could she get away with giving Jada without her complaining? God she felt selfish, she was more than willing to let a little girl go hungry if it meant she didn't have to face the big bad world for a couple more days.

Her stomach rumbled and the ache of hunger spread up into her throat, maybe she would eat the little can of tuna. It wasn't like Jada would eat it anyways, she'd been very adamant that she didn't like fish.

Crawling back into the tent, Renee flicked on the electric lantern Dale had let her borrow. She'd give Jada some time to keep playing, for now she wanted her tuna. Popping open the cooler she reached in to pull out - nothing. No that couldn't be right, there were six, there were six cans in that damn cooler. She'd counted them a hundred times, they didn't just disappear. The cooler slammed shut as she began turning over sleeping bags, and clothes, and nothing. The cans were gone, their food was gone.

Her stomach growled.

She didn't even bother rezipping her tent as she stormed back up to the campfire. They needed that food, Jada needed that food - she was just a little girl, she was growing, she needed to eat. What sick fuck stole from a little kid?

No one paid much mind as she strode up to the fire, and leaned down next to Amy, "Hey, walk with me?" Amy's brow furrowed, but she nodded following Renee up towards the RV.

"What's going on?" She asked, a concerned frown on her lips.

"Do you think you could convince the kids to go play in the RV, I don't know...talk about mosquitos or something," she said, glancing over at Jada. The little girl was giggling happily, hunched over with a handful of cards carefully positioned out of the other's sight.

"Why?"

"Someone stole our food...I need to talk to the others about it, but...I don't think Jada should be outside for that." If she had to she'd take the Camaro down to the gridlock tonight, anything to keep Jada from worrying about where her next meal was coming from.

"We got plenty of ramen left - I'm sure Dale wouldn't mind." Amy looked just as worried as Renee felt, if someone was out there stealing food it wouldn't be long before they all went from stretching calories to starving. Well all but one.

"Oh could you? Thank you so much!" She threw her arms around Amy and grinned. The two had gotten close over the past couple weeks, they were about the same age - Amy was only a couple years older - it was easy to sit back and talk about classes, and professors, and boys. Amy had been getting a bit of a crush on Glenn - apparently Jada would have some competition.

Renee waited until Amy and the kids had disappeared inside the RV before she turned back to the fire. Apparently everyone else had noticed the kids had been told to go inside, a couple parents looked mildly miffed that someone else had been ordering their children around, the campfire had gotten awful quiet.

Renee took a deep breath, "My food's gone."

* * *

><p>They'd caught a couple rabbits that afternoon. Now it was evening, and he and Merle were a couple of rabbits fuller than they had been. The meat had been warm and greasy, though at this point he wouldn't have minded some bread or something. He'd been living off rodents for two weeks now - he hadn't known he could ever get bored of meat. They hadn't exactly stocked up on a lot of canned food, once they'd started hearing the news reports Merle said they should grab their hunting gear, stock up on bullets, and head for the sticks.<p>

It was Daryl who had convinced him to come towards Atlanta, he thought maybe they could get a better idea of what was happening up that way. Merle hadn't been too happy about it, but he played along just so he could say 'told ya so, baby brother,' as they watched Atlanta burn with forced nonchalance.

Now Daryl kind of wished that he'd listened to Merle in the first place. Things were always better when it was just the two of them. Merle didn't play with others, and it was starting to grate on Daryl's nerves. It wasn't like he was extrovert of the year or anything, it just got to be a bit much sometimes. He could read Merle like a book, he knew exactly when he was about to pull shit, but the man would never listen to him - at least not when it counted. The idiot had already stirred up more shit with Officer Dickhead than Daryl would have liked. It would have been easier if they just packed and left, but Merle was insistent that they rip them off first, he was just biding his sweet time.

"What's Red up to now?" Merle asked with a grin, "Your girl startin trouble?"

"She ain't my girl." Daryl glanced over to the main fire, voices were being raised, Officer Dickbag had stood up, gun in hand. Oh no, the poor bastard had to stand, shit must have been real important, "Barely talked to her. What makes you think she started it anyway?"

"Cause, she talks with her hands when she's pissed," Merle said, matter of factly.

"How the fuck you know that?" Daryl looked at her, hair blazing in the light of the fire, hands flying around this way and that, each sentence punctuated with a harsh drop...damn, he was right.

"Been people watchin', Baby Brother, gotta know who we're dealing with."

"Think we should go -"

"Nah," Merle cut him off, "Ain't our business."

The conversation ended there, but they kept watching - it was like a bad soap opera. Couldn't hear a damn word they were saying, but it was amusing enough just to sit back and watch them working themselves up by trying to calm everyone down. Merle got the giggles when Walsh swung around and accidentally knocked the gun from his own hand. One of the mothers, a single woman with a couple of daughters, was the only one who didn't seem to be jumping in on the conversation. He couldn't remember her name, might've been Lee-Ann...Sue-Ann? Something with an Ann on the end.

Then all of a sudden Renee was marching towards her tent, he watched her figure fade out of the fire light and stalk away. Except she didn't stop, she kept going, a few people followed behind as she yanked open the flap to some poor bastards tent and the yelling started again. He was pretty sure it was Jim, real nervous guy from the midwest somewhere, he looked more confused than anything else as he was dragged back to the fire.

Merle was right, there was no way in hell he wanted to get caught up in this shit. Just wasn't worth it.

"Come on, Baby Brother, let's get some shut eye." Merle jumped up and started stomping out the fire.

"Nah, I ain't tired yet. You go on without me," Daryl said. Merle just nodded, and disappeared into the tent.

Daryl didn't get himself caught up in whatever mess these idiots had created, he just watched it. Watched til the finger pointing stopped, and people slunk back to their tents. Parents picked up kids from the RV, old man was starting a damn baby sitting service. His eyes kept flitting back to Renee as she knelt in front of that little girl she was with, said a few words, before the kid followed one of the blondies back into the RV. Renee didn't follow, just turned and went back to her own tent.

He frowned, watching her go. Didn't make a lick of sense, none of it. The curiosity was starting to win out, the same curiosity that had driven him closer to Atlanta, made him get his ass out of his chair and head down towards the fire. Not that many people had stuck around, the asian kid was still up though, poking around through his own stuff just outside his tent.

"The hell was that about?" Daryl asked, coming up behind him. The kid nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Sorry. Sorry, I didn't see you there," the asian kid, stumbled over his words, "Wow, you're really quiet. Like maybe give a man a warning next to time you go all ninja on him." Glenn gave a nervous smile, Daryl just blinked, he wanted an answer to the damn question. The silence was obviously unnerving the younger guy, who pulled at his collar, it took him a moment to remember the reason Daryl was even standing there in the first place. "Oh! That?" He pointed back towards the fire, "Apparently someone stole Renee's food, or what was left of it, she said she didn't have very much...I was just checking, making sure my stuff's still here," he pointed down at his bags, "You might want to do that too, just in case."

Daryl nodded, turned and headed back towards the tent. With one last glance towards the old yellow Camaro he went to lay down. He was going to wake up early tomorrow.

* * *

><p>The next morning was quieter. Most people still weren't up yet, and the sun hadn't quite come over the horizon leaving everything in gray scale. It had still been dark when he'd gotten up, taken a quick glance at Renee's Camaro, and headed off into the woods. He didn't plan on going all that far. The squirrels hadn't woken up much after him, and now four of them were strapped over his shoulder as he wandered back into camp.<p>

Breakfast. One for him, one for Merle, two for Red and that little girl of hers.

Merle wasn't up yet either, but Daryl figured he'd better start cooking. The buck knife was out in seconds, the guts out of one squirrel a couple minutes later. He glanced up at Renee's tent, trying to decide if it would be weirder to show up with squirrels, or to invite her up to their place. The latter, he decided, would definitely be worse. Merle didn't play well with other people. His brow furrowed slightly as he watched Renee's tent and realized something was missing. The Camaro was gone.

Leaving the squirrels out on the chair, he jumped up and headed for the RV. Where the hell could she have gone at five in the fucking morning? He knocked once, twice, almost got to three when a dead tired looking blondie opened the door and glared.

"What the hell do you want?" It was the older one.

"Renee, where is she?"

"Why do you want to know?" Andrea squinched her eyes together, somewhere in the RV he could hear someone else start moving around.

"Her car's gone." Daryl glanced at the ground, he didn't need his motives being questioned. Just wanted to know where she'd gone.

"She and Glenn went back to the highway, left early this morning." Glenn, that was the asian kid wasn't it?

"Why the hell she go and do that?"

"She needed to look for more food, someone -"

He cut her off, "Yeah, yeah I know, stole her food. She didn't need to go nowhere though, I got her some squirrels." He gestured off towards his and Merle's camp.

Andrea crossed her arms and smirked, "You tell her that?"

A rather large flaw in his plan suddenly hit him, "No."

"Well then, that's why she left." Damn bitch looked like she almost thought it was funny.

"She got any weapons?"

"Her knife. I think Glenn's got a bat, why?" Andrea had stopped looking amused, she just seemed tired again. Maybe a bit concerned, but mostly tired, it was five in the morning after all. Daryl scowled, damn girl had gone off to the road with nothing but a knife? This kind of shit was why he thought she was gonna get herself killed. Last time she'd been there she'd beaten a walker to death with a can, but he just didn't think she was gonna get that lucky again.

"I'mma tell Merle to drop one of those squirrels by later, for the kid." He didn't really answer her question, instead just stalked back to the tent, grabbed his crossbow and a pistol, told Merle about the squirrels, told Merle he was taking his bike, and left.

He'd gotten up at the butt crack of dawn to get those squirrels, he'd be damned if she got herself killed before she ate them.

* * *

><p>"Push damn it!" Renee yelled out the Camaro's window.<p>

"I'm trying!" Glenn yelled back, sounding more than a bit frustrated as the Camaro roared to no avail.

"Well try harder!" She snapped and slammed her foot down on the pedal. The car shrieked, wobbled, but didn't move. In the back she could hear Glenn groaning, "What now?" She asked, exasperated. He just groaned again. This was damn near perfect, they'd loaded up the Camaro with food and more supplies (they'd agreed to split the haul down the middle), and now they were stuck. Jada would be back in the RV still, or maybe out playing with the other kids. She'd asked Dale if Jada could have a bit of a sleepover, Renee hadn't wanted to make the girl wake up with her at five AM.

The door slammed as she went to go check what the hell his problem was. Glenn had his head hung in defeat, panting heavily, his entire front side and most of his face were absolutely coated in mud.

"This just isn't working." Glenn rubbed his hand over his face, trying to get some of the grime off, "You sure you know what you're doing?"

"Nope."

"Didn't you used to go mudding and stuff, you're like redneck-lite right?" Glenn asked with a grin. Renee shook her head, smiling.

"What makes me redneck-lite?"

"Well, Merle and Daryl are like the heavy draft ale of hicks, so that makes you light beer." Glenn said, crouching down to look at the wheel, again, even though they had both established that they didn't know what that would do.

"What do I gotta do to stop being lite?" She asked as Glenn stood back up.

"You walk into those woods, come back with a squirrel, a bottle of whisky, and a few racial slurs and we'll start calling you just plain old beer."

"Jerk," she laughed, punching his arm playfully, "Just cause I ain't a rodent-eating jackass don't mean I can't be no redneck," she said, over exaggerating her southern twang as much as possible. They broke down in giggles for a moment, before Renee glanced up at the woods. They hadn't seen any loose walkers yet, just a few trapped in cars (those had been put down). The longer they stood there with the Camaro roaring into the mud though, the more likely that corpses would begin to tumble down from the forest. "Come on," lets get back to work, "I was hoping to get back before lunch.

The Camaro struggled, and strained, and sputtered. Every once in a while she'd really ram the gas and it would bellow as the engine revved in vain. Then she heard another rumbling, one that distinctly wasn't the Camaro. It was a...bike. She turned off the engine, and clambered out of the car. Glenn had come up to stand next to her, they shared a quick look, before waving awkwardly to Daryl as he came over.

The man was normally grouchy, so his scowl didn't exactly surprise Renee or anything. Though she was kind of surprised to see him, he hadn't really bothered to say anything to her in weeks, much less show up when she was stuck on the side of the road. She'd tried, a couple of times, to talk to him after they'd reached the quarry. It was always a bit of a moot point, he'd grunt, or nod, or give a one word response, a few times he just didn't respond at all. After a few days she'd given up - the others were far easier to be friendly with, if he wanted to be the loser off in the corner with his big brother, then he was welcome to it.

"The hell did you do?" Daryl asked, looking between the car and the two people - one absolutely covered in mud.

"What does it look like, Dixon," she said dryly, "We're stuck."

"You try rockin' it?" Daryl asked, pointing down at the wheel.

"Of course I fucking tried rocking it," she grumbled, not meeting his gaze. This was almost worse than just being stuck on a walker infested road. Part of her was happy he'd shown up, part of her was handling it just fine on her own - thank you very much.

"You sure? That wheel's in pretty damn deep. You didn't gun it, did ya?"

She glanced back, he was right, it was almost half sunk into the mud, "Might've lost my temper once or twice." Glenn scoffed, gesturing to his absolutely mudcaked clothes. Renee jammed in elbow into his side for the lack of backup.

Daryl looked exasperated as he pushed past them. _Well sorry I ain't draft ale,_ she grumbled to herself as she watched Daryl crouch down next to the car. He stuck his hand into the mud, scowled at the wheel, stood up, wiped his hands on the little red rag in the back of his pants, and then scowled at her.

"You got a shovel?" He asked.

"No. Why the hell would I have a shovel?"

"There's an axe," Glenn piped up, "In the trunk."

"That'll do." Daryl nodded. It took a moment for Renee to pull it out, and the redneck seemed to be getting more impatient the longer it took. She hadn't asked him to help her, no reason for him to get all huffy about it, he was more than free to get back on his bike on leave. She didn't really mean that, she was annoyed, but she and Glenn were fucked without him.

Fifteen minutes and a bit of cursing later the wheels had been dug out a bit, and Daryl had disappeared up into the woods. No explanation, just a 'don't go nowhere,' and then he was gone.

"Watch him come back with a bunch of squirrels and six pack," Renee said with a smile.

"Well, he's already called me chinaman twice."

"Yeah...he's a bit of a jerk. I think Merle might be worse though -"

Glenn nodded, eyes wide, "Yeah, I think Merle's drifting over into hard liquor territory."

They laughed. Daryl hadn't come back yet, so they just sat out on the asphalt enjoying the warm morning. If she ignored the sea of abandoned cars, and the fact that she was sitting in the middle of a highway, she could almost call it a normal day.

Eventually the redneck slid down the embankment, a bundle of sticks and rocks in his arms. A few minutes later he'd laid the debris around the wheels, opened the door, and motioned for her to get back in.

"Alright, don't get carried away with it this time. Rock it back and forth, gentle like - yeah?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it." She rolled her eyes, and got to work, only partially ignoring the directions Daryl was yelling from the roadside as Glenn pushed from the back. A few minutes later the Camaro was rolling up onto the road. "Yes!" She cheered, grinning as she came to a stop next to Daryl.

"Take her slow for a while, get the mud out ya tires. Don't need ya skiddin all over the road." He said, leaning down to her window. Glenn came around to hop in the passengers seat.

"No!" She snapped suddenly, whipping around towards Glenn, both men looked a bit surprised, "We'll get you some towels or something, you're not getting that shit all over my car."

She thought she heard him mutter something along the lines of 'well you got it all over me,' but she decided to ignore it.

"He can ride with me," Daryl popped back up straight, "Come on, Chinaman!" Glenn looked less than enthused that he would have to hold on to Daryl for the next half hour.

"His name's Glenn, Daryl!" She called out the window after him, Glenn gave her thankful look as he followed the redneck over to the bike.

"Whatever!" Daryl called back, hopping on the bike, barely letting Glenn get settled before he revved the engine and took off. She put the Camaro into first and headed after them.

* * *

><p>They'd given a bit of the food to Daryl for his trouble, and split what was left down the middle. It was nice, knowing that she'd be able to feed Jada without worrying for a while. There was still the issue of a thief in the camp, but for now things were going to be okay.<p>

There was going to be another meeting that afternoon, to figure out what to do. She felt kind of bad, last night hadn't really been one of her proudest moments. She'd practically dragged Jim out of his tent by his ear - it was pretty obvious after a while that he hadn't done it.

There were still a couple hours left before the meeting though. She decided to spend it the best she could, just relax for a bit. Renee brought a few cans of food to thank Dale when she picked up Jada, she decided they were going to go swimming that morning. Jada never objected to that, she just grinned and ran to get the outfit she'd designated as her swimsuit - a pair of cloth shorts and a tank top.

"Did you get something to eat this morning?" Renee asked her as they walked down to the water.

" brought me a squirrel." Jada wrinkled her nose a bit, apparently squirrel wasn't all that high on her menu. Renee's brow furrowed...Dixon?

"Which one?"

"The old one." Jada said, laying her towel down on the rocks. Renee smiled, she'd like to see her say that to his face. Though she was kind of surprised that Merle had bothered...it was Merle...and for that matter why was he bringing Jada squirrels?

The morning passed by faster than she would've liked, splashing about in the shallows and giving piggybacks through the deep parts. Jada could swim well, she was like a fish, showing off her freestyle and backstroke. It was almost time for the group talk when she and Jada walked back up to camp. Carol had agreed to babysit the kids this time while everyone else tried to figure out what to do about the thief.

Renee kissed Jada's forehead goodbye and headed over to the fire pit, still dripping wet. There were more people there than she had expected, even the Dixons had shown up - they didn't look happy about it, but they were there.

"Alright," Shane started out, earning a couple of eye rolls from the Dixons. Renee had a feeling they didn't like the cop all that much, "I think we got some things we need to talk about."

Some people nodded, a few just sat quietly as they listened.

"Someone's taken Renee's food, and I hear she went out on a run - but this isn't something that can be repeated. I've already had four other people come to me saying they're missing things too."

"What, you playing Sheriff now?" Merle smirked from his place standing behind Lori and Carl.

"If It's what I gotta do, it's what I gotta do," Shane replied, cocking his head to look at him sideways.

"Shane used to be an officer," Lori added, "He's more than qualified."

"Look, I'm not gonna be stringing anybody up. We need to figure this out though, if whoever's been doing this could just come forward - I'm sure we can -"

"And why the hell would they want to come forward?" T-Dog asked, "I mean the whole group was kinda at eachothers throats last night."

"That was a mistake," Shane made eye contact with her, "Things got out of hand, for a lot of people. It's not like anyone's been stealing guns, or clothes, or jewelry. It was food - something someone needed, now I think we can all understand that. If we know why they were stealing, maybe we can do something to fix the problem."

It was very quiet for a while, eyes trailing from face to face. Every once in a while she'd make eye contact with someone, and quickly move on to the next person. Her gaze met Daryl's and she held it for a moment, it still didn't add up that Merle had brought Jada dinner. Daryl looked down to the ground, had he put him up to it? A bit of a smile spread on her lips, Daryl was a grumpy, anti-social jerk sometimes - most of the time - but he had a good heart.

"It was me," a soft voice broke the silence, and Renee looked up from Daryl to see Sarah-Ann. The older woman wouldn't meet anyone's eyes, but she kept talking, "We ran out of food last week. I couldn't leave them… I just couldn't go back out there," her eyes flicked up to Renee's briefly, "but I couldn't let them go hungry. They're my girls." Her voice cracked, and she trained her eyes on the ground again.

"It's okay," Renee said, "I...I understand." It was a terrifying thought, going outside the relative safety of camp. She'd been willing to stop eating for almost a week if it would have meant not having to go back out. Her missing food had just made her deal with it sooner.

Shane nodded to her, and Renee offered him a quiet smile, apparently he approved of her decision, "We got some things we need to change around here," Shane said, Merle scoffed, but the cop just ignored him and kept going, "We're going to be here for a while, and that's something we're gonna have to deal with. We're a group, we gotta start acting like it - we keep ourselves all closed off like this kids are gonna start going hungry." A few people nodded as they listened, "We gotta start working together, organizing runs to get food and supplies -" he looked towards the Dixons, "I know a lot of people would be grateful if you started sharing some of the meat," Merle didn't look too happy, "The two of you are great hunters, shouldn't be too hard to pick up a few more squirrels out there.

"We need to start sharing what we have. We can't survive on our own much longer, it needs to be a team effort. We agreed?" Shane asked in a way that wasn't really a question so much as a 'this is how it's gonna be from now on', but no one seemed to have any objections. Shane nodded, "Alright."

Renee glanced over at Daryl, _Kumbaya._

**Well that was chapter four, kind of a long one hahaha. I hope you guys liked it! I'll try to keep updates to about once a week, more if I can, just depends on how much school work I got going on. I hope to hear back from you guys! **

**See ya soon!**


	5. Take a Dixon

**Well here we are chapter five! I believe we'll be breaking 20,000 words today! I'm so thankful for all the support I've received so far. To everyone who has followed or favorited, thank you so much. A special thanks to FiliaFamilias, redangel2463, SilverAdvenger12, and XXBlackfireXX for their recent reviews. I'm sorry if it's been a little while since I've managed to put up a chapter, it's not even that I have a ton of schoolwork as much as it's building up against college applications and what not. Once this semester is over though I'll be free to write all the fanfiction I desire. **

**Chapter 5 - Take a Dixon**

She spent most of her mornings in the RV. Jada would go off to play with the kids, or take lessons from Lori and Carol (completely against her will, but Renee figured if they ever found her mom again, she'd be a bit pissed if she let Jada fall behind in her school work). Renee always spent those early sunrise hours listening to the quiet with a cup of watered down instant coffee. Dale was outside refrying last night's refried beans, Amy had gone off to find Glenn, so it was just Renee and Andrea slumped over the table with Dale's colorful mugs.

Renee had never been a morning person, neither had Andrea. Dale often joked that they looked like walkers slumping around the RV, they would just glare at him in unison and continue to fumble through whatever task they were attempting to accomplish. It was six thirty in the morning. It constantly amazed Renee how fully awake Jada could be at six thirty in the morning. The kid was practically bouncing as she got dressed to go do whatever the hell it was she and the other kids did. She fit in well with them, it kind of surprised Renee the other kids were all a good bit older, she was pretty sure it surprised Jada a bit too - but she was absolutely basking in it.

While Jada would sprint out of the tent to find her friends, Renee would slowly drag herself up to the RV for coffee and companionship.

She and Andrea were on laundry duty with Carol today. Amy had managed to get herself out of it by "helping Glenn plan a run", the lucky duck. It constantly amazed her how "we need to work together" turned into "the women are going to go do some laundry now". Yet somehow there they were. Renee decided she might as well play along, she was a crap shot with a moving target - she was more likely to kill herself than anything else if she started going on runs all the time. At this point she had decided if she was going to pull her weight, laundry was where it was at - she couldn't hunt, couldn't cook, she didn't particularly _want_ to fight and run from walkers. Her only real skill was fixing cars - her dad had taught her - but so far there just hadn't been one to work with. Andrea was the one who voiced her displeasure about the separation of labor, though Renee wasn't exactly sure what else she wanted to do, the older woman knew even less about guns than she did.

They both agreed that as long as they were doing all the chores some of the men should be helping out too. The thought of Merle Dixon hunched over a washboard was enough to make Renee sing.

"You know what I miss?" Renee said, twirling the spoon round and round the mug.

"What?" Andrea asked, not particularly interested. It was a pretty common question around camp, people should start making their own FAQs.

"Pizza. The moment all this shit ends, I'm gonna order one large - extra cheese, mushrooms, sausage, pineapple - and I'm gonna eat the whole damn thing."

"Who the hell puts pineapple on a mushroom and sausage pizza?" Andrea's lips twitched tiredly, Renee couldn't tell if it was supposed to be a smile or a look of disgust.

"I do. That's who."

"Honestly," Andrea started, "That sounds -" The door opened.

"We got beans!" Dale said, putting a steaming pot down on a towel as he went to go look for bowls.

"Probably better than beans again," she finished, half heartedly taking a bowl from Dale.

Food was distributed after each run between each individual and or family. More than a few little groups had formed trying to increase variety in the dinner menu, what you ended up with was really kind of a grab bag. Renee, Jada, Dale, Andrea, Amy, Glenn, and Jim had ended up in a little food pool together. Supplies had gotten low again since the last run, and they'd been on beans for four days - to say the least windows were kept open a lot.

More food should have been coming...yesterday...Gonzales, Mark, James, Peter, and Lynn hadn't come back. Dale wasn't getting a response on the CB - complete radio silence. Tomorrow they would be down to the last can of beans. James's wife, Heather, had been near inconsolable since yesterday morning. Maybe they were okay though, holed up in the back of a Walmart somewhere. It would be a hard blow to the group, down four members, running low on food, and to top it off they'd had most of the guns.

Daryl and Merle would still have their pistols and crossbow. Shane still had the shotgun, but apart from that they weren't exactly an army. That's why Glenn was planning runs now - with Gonzales gone he was next in line for run leader - apparently he'd proven to have a good head the times he'd been out so far.

Bowl of beans scraped clean Renee headed outside - she might as well start collecting laundry, Carol would be cooking, and Andrea had gone to the bathroom. The Peletiers were one of the few families who hadn't made friends with any of the other little groups - Renee was worried that they might be even worse off than her group was. At least the Dixons had brought back squirrels last night...enough for everyone to have a quarter….

"Any clothes to be cleaned?" Renee asked, balancing a half full laundry basket on her hip as she looked between Shane and Lori. It had taken her a little over two weeks to realize they weren't actually together, and one more to realize that they totally were. They weren't all that open about it, but Renee guessed they had their reasons - it wasn't exactly her business.

"I think Carl has some, just a moment." Lori hurried off into the tent. Renee liked Lori, she was kind and honestly reminded her a bit of her own mom - younger, but still a lot like her. She'd spent more than one afternoon down by the quarry with her, doing laundry while they watched the kids swim.

"So...they haven't come back yet?" Renee asked, looking out towards Atlanta. Shane shook his head. "No radio?"

"Nothing."

"We know the route they took don't we? What stores they were going to hit?"

"Yeah, why?" He looked up at her, curious.

"Shouldn't we send someone out? You know, to go look for them?" Renee glanced up towards James' tent, his wife was hunched over a pot cooking something, "I think it would do Heather a world of good, just to...know."

He shook his head, lips pushing into a frown, "Ain't worth it. Can't risk the men, the guns, the gas -"

"What if I go?" She asked, "I'll take the Camaro - it's not used for runs so it's just my gas I'm wasting, I won't need a gun or anything, don't even have to get out of the car.I can just drive through their route, see if I see anything."

He bit his lip, "I don't like the thought of you going alone."

"What's this about?" Lori had come out of the tent. A bundle of dirty clothes under her arm.

"Renee here wants to do a little recon, see if she can figure out what happened to Gonzales and the others." Shane said, "Not sure she should go alone, but don't really know who to send her with," he eyed Lori and one corner of his mouth tugged up, "Got things I need to be doing around here."

Renee had to try very hard not to laugh.

"Why doesn't she take a Dixon. They aren't doing much right now." She nodded up towards the Dixons' camp. Merle looked like he was taking a nap, Daryl was cleaning his crossbow.

Shane nodded in agreement, "Yeah, take a Dixon."

"You make that sound like it's going to be easy," Renee sighed through a smile. Daryl was about as stubborn as a mule with a pretty similar temperament. Merle was just a loose cannon, a flirty loose cannon with a troubling love for methamphetamines. He wasn't as angry as often as Daryl was, but honestly she'd rather have grumpy Daryl everyday of the week over Merle on an off day. Of course that wasn't saying she found Merle particularly pleasant when he wasn't yelling, he still managed to be a jackass even when he was being friendly.

"Here," Lori moved to take the laundry basket from her hands, "I can take over laundry for ya. I don't have much to do today." Shane frowned at that, and she gave him a pointed look. Apparently there was a little trouble in hell.

"Thank you so much," Renee grinned, "You ever want me to cover laundry for you, I'm here." With that she took off to find her Dixon for the day.

* * *

><p>Renee had decided she was going to put off dealing with Daryl and Merle for just a little bit. She went to the RV to tell Dale where she off to, went to her tent to grab her knife, and went off to say goodbye to Jada. The little girl didn't seem ecstatic that Renee was leaving camp, the last four to go hadn't come back yet, but she didn't put up a fuss. Eventually Renee had run out of things to procrastinate with, so she took a deep breath and walked up to visit the Dixons.<p>

Merle hadn't woken up from the looks of it, still slouched in his chair with a dirty towel over his face. Daryl had moved on from his crossbow and was now sharpening a set of knives. The two of them looked good - I guess it helped having an all access pass to the squirrel buffet - Renee didn't have a scale anymore, but she knew she'd lost a good deal of weight. Her belt actually had to keep her pants up now instead of just looking cute and having a buckle. These two though, they hardly looked different from the day she'd met them. If anything they'd gotten a bit more muscle definition from extra protein, a lot of hunting, and having to lay off the beer. She couldn't help to notice Daryl's arms, he always wore those damned sleeveless shirts, but quickly pushed it out of her mind.

"Hey," she said, coming to a stop in front of Daryl. If she had to take one them, it would be him - he was grumpy, but he wasn't a hot head, "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Nope. I'm busy, bout to go huntin'." He said, sheathing his buck knife and rolling up the rest.

"Can't Merle go hunting?"

"Nah, I'm the better tracker. Merle said he saw a herd of deer, I'm gonna go bag one," he jumped up from his chair, "Nice big buck." He almost looked like he was going to start smiling - honestly he was in a better mood than she'd seen him in - ever. Rednecks really did love their hunting. Daryl picked up his crossbow, "Ask me when I get back, don't want to let them get too far." With that he headed off into the woods.

Renee sighed, watching him disappear beyond the tree line. Well she only had one option left…

"Merle. Merle wake up."

* * *

><p>The older Dixon had been surprisingly willing to help. As long as they did things his way, and apparently his way meant his vehicle. Renee looked at the bike like it was going to eat her, she'd never been on one before, hadn't wanted to be on one before, and certainly didn't want to be on one with Merle Dixon.<p>

"Come on, sweetheart, hop on." Merle grinned, revving the engine.

She rolled her eyes at him and swung up onto the back seat, "You know where we're going?"

"Yeah," he kicked his feet along the ground as he rolled them out towards the road. Renee nodded, not that he could see her. This wasn't so bad so far, but they weren't exactly going fast.

"I swear to god Merle Dixon, if you kill me on this thing I'm gonna -"

"What? Kill me back?" He laughed. _Yeah, something like that. _"Well, you better hold on sweetheart!" The engine roared and they jerked forward. She yelped, scrabbling to cling to him as they sped down the road around the quarry. It was hard to forget the very vertical drop off to her left as Merle pushed the bike faster. She could swear she could hear him cackling as she buried her face in his back.

* * *

><p>As long as she didn't look at the road rushing away beneath her, the rest of the ride wasn't so bad. She had her arms wrapped around Merle a little tighter than she would like to admit, but he didn't seem to mind. She kept her eyes up, looking for Gonzales' chevy pickup - so far nothing. The ride was quiet - at least conversation-wise - they couldn't have talked over the bike if they wanted to.<p>

Eventually the bike began to slow and they coasted into the Walmart parking lot. There were a lot of cars starting to look a little worse for wear. A couple of dead dead bodies were strewn here and there, bright red bullet holes marking their skulls. They must have been walkers. She brought her hand to her knife, there could be more. Merle must have had the same thought, he'd drawn his handgun, clicking the safety off.

"You see em anywhere?" Merle asked, glancing at the dead faces on the ground.

She shook her head, "The truck's over there though." The Chevy was parked by the door, the group hadn't made it out of the Wal-Mart apparently. That didn't have to mean they were dead though, did it?

"So, as long as we're alone…" Merle bit his lip, "We could -"

"No." She cut him off, suddenly remembering why she'd wanted to bring Daryl.

"You're missing out, Red." He said with a laugh. Cocky bastard.

"I'm just not."

"So we gonna head in?" He asked, gesturing towards the open automatic doors. She nodded, and they headed off side by side. Merle had a temper, some bad habits, and could be creepy as hell when he wanted to be - but she had to admit that as long as he didn't decide it was in his best interest to leave her, she was probably going to get out of this alive. Unless he was high - but his eyes seemed clear today.

Shane had said she should just go for a drive-by recon mission, but she didn't like the idea of leaving Gonzales trapped in there - supposing they were still alive. She had Merle, and so far the coast seemed clear. She didn't see the harm of just poking around - worst came to worst at least she could bring the truck back for the group.

"Ah, shit." Merle grimaced as he rounded the truck. Apparently the group had made it out of the Wal-Mart, they just hadn't made it all that far. Renee swayed, suddenly feeling very, very nauseous. He gripped her elbow, steadying her against him. There was hardly anything left - five piles of broken, red bones and scraps of cloth, all sat in pools of blood. "Come on," he pulled her gently, "ain't no point in stickin..." he trailed off as the sound of groans became horribly apparent. Walkers were closing in behind them from the parking lot, more were staggering out from the Wal-Mart.

Three fell in quick succession as Merle started firing off rounds. The ones who weren't on the ground started to look even more excited, "C'mon!" He yelled, "Let's go!" They took off running, Merle in the lead, gun at the ready. She could hear her heart thrumming in her ears as she sprinted after him - they'd parked the bike so far away. The man was far taller than her, his long legs starting to carry him ahead - she didn't have the breath to ask him to wait. Instead she lunged forward, trying to get a hold of his shirt.

She missed. Her own weight pulled her down, she tumbled onto the asphalt. Cold hands gripped her ankle and quickly began to crawl up her body towards her. One of them had been faster than the others, an incredibly tall man that looked like he had been handsome once. His stomach had been ripped open, guts and blood dragging out onto her as his hands hungrily grasped for her neck. She hated the way they snarled, with stiff, dead lips, it looked too much like a smile.

Her knife, she needed her knife. The sheath was on her belt, but her hands were busy trying to keep teeth from making it to her neck. She struggled and pushed, grunting heavily as she tried to get it off of her long enough to put a blade through it's skull. Something squished against her knee, cold and slimy - she wanted to throw up.

The other walkers were closing in, "Merle!" she screamed, "Merle!"

The bike revved. That bastard was going to leave her. She was having a hard enough time keeping one off of her, there had to be ten more and they were only a hundred feet away. She was going to die, wasn't she? The bike roared, she closed her eyes, listening as her only hope - got closer? She couldn't see, but she heard the rumbling coast up next to her, there was a loud bang. Blood and brain splattered across her face and neck as the walker collapsed, grinning into her shoulder.

In a matter of seconds the weight was gone, warm hands gripped her arms, and she was yanked up onto the bike. She didn't look back as they sped out of the parking lot, just buried her face between Merle's shoulder blades, arms firmly wrapped around his midsection. She didn't look up the rest of the ride.

* * *

><p>The trail had gone cold pretty quick - the deer had come upon stream, must have followed it for a while. It wasn't worth running back and forth forever to pick the trail up again, so Daryl made his way back to camp without the deer. The trip wasn't a total waste though, he'd found some wild turkey - completely on accident - and managed to get a head shots before the rest had time to run. The bird bumped against his thigh with each step as the quarry finally came into sight.<p>

His brow furrowed.

Merle was on his bike, flying up the quarry road like a bat out of hell - a pretty normal pace for Merle. He wasn't alone though, a telltale streak of red hair whipped about behind them. Renee. He broke into a jog, dropping the turkey at the tent as he joined the gathering group at the end of the road. What the hell had they been doing out?

Merle looked like he'd been in a bit of a scrape, pinkish stains flecking the front of his white wifebeater. His brother kicked along as the bike crawled to a stop. He didn't acknowledge the others, just stood and turned to Renee - his back was even worse. When he helped the girl off the bike Daryl saw why, the girl was soaked in blackish-red goo and blood.

She looked like she'd just crawled out of hell, a wild look glazing over her brown eyes.

"Renee?" The younger blondie, Amy, was approaching her like she was an animal in a trap. Red lunged forward from Merle's grip, throwing her arms around her friend's shoulders, burying her face in her neck. By the time she'd drawn back Amy had a bit of blood on her too.

"I-I'm sorry…" Renee stammered, looking at blondie's ruined clothes.

Daryl looked to Merle. What the hell had happened? He frowned, there was a tug in his chest as he glanced back at Renee. Why hadn't he gone with her?

"The others?" Shane had come up to her as well, speaking softly.

She shook her head, "Gone." James' wife started crying somewhere behind him, "I'm gonna...I'm gonna go wash up." She turned and started walking towards the quarry, every few steps her foot would catch on the ground like she'd forgotten she was supposed to pick them up. Amy followed behind her.

"Was she bit?" Shane looked to Merle. That tight feeling his chest got a hell of a lot worse.

Merle shook his head, "Nah, just shook up. Ran into some trouble."

That was a bit of an understatement.

Merle had told him what happened. What the walkers had done to Gonzales and the others. That he hadn't realized Red had fallen behind, when he turned around she was stuck under some bastard with an open belly. Only just managed to get to her before the rest of the geeks did. He tried not to show it, but Merle looked pretty shaken - it wasn't long before he'd grabbed his stash of crystal and disappeared into the tent.

Daryl was left alone to their portion of the turkey.

Would things have gone differently if he'd told Renee yes that morning? He supposed it didn't matter - she was alive.

"Hey." A soft voice came from behind him. Renee.

"Hey," he said, not meeting her eyes. He still didn't know why he felt bad. This wasn't his fault.

"I was just coming to thank Merle... he kind of saved my ass."

"He ain't really up for talking right now." Trying to have any sort of conversation with Merle high was pretty much pointless, he talked, he was just an asshole.

"Can I sit?" Daryl didn't say yes so much as just nod to Merle's vacant chair, his thumb went to his teeth - habit he'd had since before he could remember, never could break the damn thing. She lowered herself into the seat slowly, she must have been kind of stiff from the fall she took. They were quiet for a long time, watching the fire die. He found himself looking up at her more often than not, why the hell was she sitting with him? Wasn't there a little girl she was supposed to be taking care of? She'd almost died today, thought you were supposed to go cuddle up to your loved ones when shit like that happened.

"I never really thought about what they could do...the walkers…" she finally broke the silence. "Gonzales, and the rest - the rest of them, they were…"

"Merle told me." Daryl broke in.

"I forgot how real this was. I forgot that those things...those things are monsters." Her voice took on an acrid quality, her eyes glimmering in the fire light. "If Merle hadn't been there -"

"He was."

"But if he hadn't been! If I didn't have him, or Shane, or you, if it was just me and Jada. I wouldn't be able to take care of myself...I couldn't take care of her. I can't protect myself, I can't hunt, I can't...if something happened to the group - if me and Jada got seperated….I'm responsible for her. I have to be able to make sure she's safe." Daryl glanced up at her, not really sure what to say. "I need your help."

"What?"

"I need your help, please. I'll help you out with laundry, or your truck, or whatever I don't care - please just teach me to hunt, how to fight. I need to be able to keep Jada safe. Please."

He took a deep breath, "Fine." He was going to regret this, "I'll help you. Five AM, tomorrow, and you best be paying attention alright? No screwin around -" He stopped abruptly as Renee's arms were flung over his shoulders. Every muscle tensed. She was practically laying on him, torso pressed against his, he could feel her breath in the hollow where his shoulder met his throat.

"Thank you, Daryl." He was starting to feel a bit warmer. He tried not to look at her as she pulled back.

"No screwin around, and don't go hugging me while you're at it." He growled, watching the fire.

"Sorry," she said quickly, voice jumping an octave or two, and then she was gone. He watched her red hair fade into the shadows as she headed back for her tent. A groan rose up in his chest. What had he gotten himself into?

**Yay chapter five! Got this out sooner than I thought I would haha. What'd you guys think? I hope you liked it! Hopefully will get chapter six out sometime soon. **

**See ya guys then :)**


	6. Hello, Sunshine

**Chapter six! I've already gotten over a thousand views and it's been less than ten days (as of writing this chapter note) since I posted the first chapter. I want to thank everyone who's been favoriting and following. Special thanks to redangel2463, Black Roses Wilt, An Amber Pen, and Raycen for the reviews! By the time this chapter is posted I should be all done with applying for the creative writing scholarship - I've been working on the portfolio for it for the last couple months. I hope I get it, it's a full ride, but there'll be a lot of really good writers who will be applying and they only choose one. I guess we'll see. I won't even know if I got accepted to that college until next month. Well here's the sixth chapter, we're going to be getting into show territory soon! Hope you guys enjoy! **

**Chapter 6 - Hello, Sunshine**

"So Amy - you were what six?" Andrea asked through a grin, Amy nodded, and Andrea continued, "I was probably eighteen by then, and she just -" she broke out in giggles, "Comes into my room - it's gotta be one in the morning, I'm half asleep," Andrea started laughing again, Amy was turning bright red, "now I don't know if you guys have noticed, but she's terrifyingly quiet."

"Oh God…" Amy hid her face.

"So all of a sudden, it's completely dark, and I just hear from behind me 'I have your ding-dong." She busted out in silent laughter trying to catch her breath, Amy was starting to look like a tomato, "She-she-she...she had, had found my dildo under my bed! And I whip around to turn on the light, and she's got a bright pink dick on my face!"

The entire group was in stitches, "So of course I screamed -and, and Mom and Dad come rushing in, and there I am yelling at her while she's parading around with a dick in her hand screaming 'I've got your ding-dong, I've got your ding-dong'." She let out a long sigh, cheeks pink from laughing, "Oh god we were both in so much trouble."

Everyone was turning red as they struggled to breath, Glenn gasped, banging his fist against the breakfast table. Renee couldn't stop grinning even though her cheeks were starting to burn, and her lungs were begging for air.

"Alright, Jada!" Renee called out with a heavy breath that quickly turned into a laugh again, "You can come out."

Jada gave them a pouty look as she closed the bathroom door behind her, "Why couldn't I listen?"

"It was an adult story sweetie, you wouldn't have gotten it," Dale reassured her.

"Alright, Renee," Glenn looked to her, "We've all fessed up it's your turn - most embarrassing story, go."

"No!" She put her hands up, begging for mercy, "No, I - I can't -"

"Uh-uh, you aren't getting out of this one," Amy giggled, "I told the diarrhea in Spain story - it can't be worse than that!"

"Okay! Okay, most embarrassing story…" Wow she didn't want to do this, "I mean the night I practically dragged Jim out to be burned at the stake was pretty embarrassing." She glanced over at Jim, who was smiling over his bowl of breakfast-chili, "Sorry about that."

"No, no way! That doesn't count!" Glenn yelled.

"Yeah, we were all there for that," Dale smiled, "Tell us something we haven't heard yet."

"It doesn't even have to be from before," Andrea said, a smirk forming on her lips, "I mean you've spent a lot of time in the woods the past couple weeks...with a certain redneck." A few suggestive ooh's went around the table.

Renee's face turned about as red as her hair, "N-no, I, no. W-we, me and - no. No, no, no. No. That's just - that's just wrong -"

"Oh come on!" Amy grinned, "I bet it's been romantic. Just the two of you, and some squirrel corpses - out in the woods, getting all hot…"

"Oh my God! Stop!" She bent over, hiding her face in her hands, "It's not like that! I mean I've done my fair share of dumb sh-" she glanced at Jada, "things. Dumb things in front of him - but he's...he's just, just teaching me -"

"Oh yeah, bet he's teaching you a lot of things," Glenn said in his best porn star imitation. Renee hated them, every last one of them. Why hadn't she just told them the story about the pony at Lucinda's birthday party? Her eyes trailed down to her watch, it was seven thirty.

"Crap! I'm going to be late, Daryl's gonna to be so pissed at me!" She jumped up. The group started laughing again, a few innuendos about 'punishment' started going around, "Jada, you go see Carol and Lori for your lessons when you're all done okay?" She asked, trying to ignore the others even though she was turning redder by the moment. Jada nodded, and Renee kissed her forehead before practically bolting for the door.

"You aren't getting out of this!" Glenn yelled.

"Say hey to lover boy for me, alright?" Andrea called just as the door started to close.

Renee whipped the door back open, and popped her head and an accusing finger around the corner, "A'll y'all suck!" she yelled through a smile and a blush, she slammed the door again, thought better of it, and jumped back in for one last empathetic, "Suck!"

As she closed the door she could swear she heard Glenn say something along the lines of, 'yeah I bet that's what she's doing'. They burst out into laughter again as Renee stalked away, face still beet red, and started for Daryl's camp.

Things had been going better with him than she would have expected. When she'd first asked it had been a last resort reaction to all the...the things that had happened that day. The thought of actually spending up to days at a time in the woods, with nothing but a grouchy redneck for company, sounded absolutely terrible. He hadn't dragged her out on any overnight trips yet - but after today, she was sure her friends were going to give her hell once he did.

Despite low expectations he'd managed to outdo himself. She'd never doubted that he knew what he was doing out there, but she'd been worried that he wouldn't be able to use enough words to actually tell her how to do it herself. He'd proven himself to be a pretty good teacher - grumpy, impatient, and prone to snapping at her when she fucked up, but she was learning. So far he'd been working on her with tracking, and taught her how to work a crossbow - the first day he'd stood there and watched for a good five or six minutes as she struggled to pull the string back.

The other day she'd managed to shoot her first squirrel. That was her first infraction on the no hugging rule, she figured there'd be more - she found it kind of amusing how awkward Daryl got.

Merle had stepped up too, had started working with her on hand to hand and knives. She didn't know how many knife fights he'd been in, but she figured that just wasn't her business. He'd turned out to be more pleasant than she'd expected as well (they'd actually been on pretty decent terms since their excursion to Wal-Mart), there was still the occasional suggestive comment when he had her pressed against him in a headlock, but otherwise he was a better conversationalist than Baby Brother.

She was kind of surprised Merle had decided to help, she'd never asked for it. Just one day Daryl had abruptly gone off after some deer (some deer which he caught, by the way - that big old buck he'd wanted, it tasted delicious), so she'd gone up to their camp to find Big Brother waiting for her. She was still trying to figure out if Daryl had put him up to it, or if he'd done it of his own volition. She supposed it didn't matter, he kept on teaching her even after Daryl got back.

Through all of this she'd managed to keep up with her shifts on laundry duty - a couple of times Daryl had gotten pissed at her for being late, a couple of times her shift-mates for the day had gotten pissed when she hadn't shown up at all. She always figured they had more right to be than Daryl on that point, he was perfectly capable of going and hunting on his own if she didn't show up. Hell it would probably be easier for him.

Today, both the Dixons were out in front of their tent, eating breakfast. It always amused her how alike the brothers could be. They sat the same way: slouched way down in their seats, asses almost off the edge, with their legs stretched out, and bowls resting on their stomachs.

"What's up with you today, Sunshine?" Merle called out, mouth full of food, as Renee walked up and sat on the ground between them. 'Little Ball of Sunshine' - or Sunshine for short - was the nickname Daryl had given her early on in their lessons. She'd had a bad day, she still couldn't load the crossbow, he'd given her crap, so she threw shit in his face (not literally, he might have killed her for that). To her chagrin, not only had it stuck, but Merle had picked it up too. "Your face is 'bout as red as your hair."

"I ain't talkin 'bout that," she grumbled, her southern accent always got a little stronger around the Dixons. The last thing she needed was for Daryl to hear her friends thought they were hooking up out in the woods everyday. He'd probably blow a gasket - die of an aneurysm right there. That or he'd turn just as red as she was - she hadn't decided which was more likely.

With a forced smile she looked up at Daryl, "So, what's the plan for today? Thought I saw some turkey tracks the other day, when the kids thought it would be fun to play hide and seek in the woods." That had been a particularly scary couple of hours, the kids had just disappeared, hadn't said a damn word to anyone. Renee had been able to use a bit of the tracking Daryl had been teaching her, but couldn't quite discern which kid was which, or which trails were doubling back, and where one kid split off from another. They'd all gotten into a shitload of trouble when the adults finally found them. "We could go after those."

"Nah, we got other plans today, Sunshine," Daryl said, setting his bowl down, "C'mon." He jumped up, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand before grabbing his crossbow and heading for the truck. She scrambled to her feet and followed.

"You keep our Darylina safe now, Red, ya hear?" Merle called out as they hopped into Daryl's old ford.

"Don't worry Merle, I got him!"

* * *

><p>He didn't say where they were going. She tried asking once, he didn't respond - and after that she'd shut up. He glanced over at her. She must have fallen asleep, red hair unceremoniously draped over her face. Damn, girl could go out like a light - they'd only been on the road for ten or twenty minutes. He sighed, readjusting in his seat as they sped down the road - no speed limits anymore, or at least no one to enforce them.<p>

The past couple of weeks hadn't been perfect. Renee was a fast learner, but easily frustrated when she didn't get it right away, and lacking in upper body strength. Sometimes things were nice, she'd be happy and smiling - and that made him happy, because if she was smiling it generally meant she wasn't gonna start bitching at him all day. Sometimes she was all sullen attitude and back talk - those days she usually started making dumb mistakes, and he'd point it out, and she'd just go off the wall.

Her good days though, he'd almost think they had another Dixon in the making. She was intuitive when she wasn't panicky or pissy, picked up on things real quick. Even bagged a squirrel the other day. He hadn't even seen it yet, Red just whipped up his crossbow and _wthhp _a rodent was pinned to the ground. It wasn't a perfect shot, just managed to scrape over it's back and snap it's spine. He decided not to tell her that it was probably still alive while she hugged him and danced around. Didn't need her going soft over no Bambi shit.

She still had a lot to learn.

The truck groaned heavily as he tapped on the breaks so they could round a corner, and he scowled, damn thing had started making that noise last time he'd taken it out on a run. He'd have to find time to start poking around in there, figure out what was wrong.

"You need new brake pads," she mumbled through a yawn from the passenger's side, "We can go up to the gridlock later, I'll borrow some of Dale's tools, find you new ones."

"I don't need new -"

"Yes you do. It don't surprise me, the way you and your brother fly and skid around in this poor old thing," she rolled her head around to smile at him, "She's bound to give out sometime." Daryl grumbled to himself, he didn't need her telling him how to take care of his damn truck. He'd had the thing since he was sixteen, he knew how to deal with it. "Just go easy on the brakes until I can get them changed out for ya - I don't wanna deal with rotors too. How long has that noise been goin' on? Might need to get ya new rotors anyways, just to be on the -"

"I don't need your damn help!" he snapped, tightening his grip on the steering wheel and hitting the accelerator.

"And you call me Sunshine…" she muttered, "The hell's wrong with you today? You're always a crotchety old man, but you're worse than normal."

"I ain't old! And there ain't nothing wrong with me." That was a lie. He knew exactly why he was in a bad mood - Merle had gotten high that night, brought up shit Daryl would have preferred not thinking about. Didn't matter though, he wasn't gonna talk about it. Not with her, not with anyone.

The car groaned as he slammed on the brakes, tires squealing around the corner.

"What the hell, Daryl?! I told you to go easy on the the damn brakes!" She jumped, throwing her arms out to brace herself against the dash and door. He hadn't taken the turn like that on purpose, not that he was going to tell her that.

He caught the tail end of a glare as he glanced at her. Rolling his eyes he let up on the gas to coast the rest of the way, they were almost there.

"How do ya know that shit anyway?" He asked. A conversation attempt would just have to be a good enough of an apology for her.

"Cars?" She asked, and he nodded. "Dad retired early, used to be a doctor. After, he started a garage out back of our house - restored classic cars for himself, but he fixed up other people's for extra money. I used to help him."

He nodded as they crawled around the corner into the parking lot. Then crawled across the lot, inch by inch. He didn't touch the brake, didn't touch the gas either just let it roll along at a turtle's pace. She glared at him, he held back a smirk.

"I told you to lay off the brake," she grumbled, "Not be a sarcastic shit." With that she threw open her door, and hopped down from the rolling car, easily overtaking it. He had no idea what she thought she was doing, still hadn't told her where they were going and there was more than one shop off of the lot.

He threw it in the park, grabbed his crossbow, jumped out, and jogged after her. "Hey!" he snapped, "I thought I told you not to go off without me, Sunshine." He slowed to a walk once he was slightly in front of her, loaded crossbow at ready. It looked quiet, but they had pretty quickly learned that that didn't mean shit.

"I have my knife." She patted the sheath on her belt.

"Yeah, and that did ya a world of good last time." He didn't need her getting herself killed trying to give him the cold shoulder. "C'mon, this way." He nodded off in the direction of a hunting supply store. He and Merle used to come here from time to time, it was about forty minutes from home - a bit of a drive, but it carried a lot of shit the closer stores didn't.

He went in first, finger on the trigger as he stalked between the aisles looking for walkers. So far none. Up on the back wall were plenty of rifles, ammunition was under the glass in the counter. There was tubes full of bolts towards the back, he'd pick up a few of those in a bit, wouldn't hurt to have extra. He was pretty sure it was all clear - checked everything but the bathrooms when he heard a scream from outside.

Renee.

Couldn't let her out of his sight could he? He sprinted around aisles, knocking over a couple racks of hipwaders before he managed to slam through the doors. Crossbow up he stared at her, breathing heavily. She was fine. She was fine, no walkers, no blood.

"The hell happened?" He asked, looking her up and down. She was fine.

"A centipede," she squeaked, "It fell from the awning, and landed on my face." He blinked slowly. He was gonna to kill her, screaming over a fucking centipede. "Nothing should have that many legs."

"Come on," he growled, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her into the store with him, "You're gonna bring every walker for miles if you keep this shit up."

Inside, he pulled her to the counter before he vaulted over it, and headed for the door into the back. He'd poked through it earlier, no walkers that he'd found, still he kept his crossbow at ready. She followed behind, clambering over the glass and coming up next to him as he waited at the door. He tensed, she'd gotten real damn close, fingers brushing over his thigh when she turned to look up at him.

Brown eyes met his, and he broke away to go into the back.

"So you still haven't told me what we're doing here," she said.

He didn't look back at her, "Gettin you a bow of your own. Better than a gun, quiet, reusable ammo." He came to a stop at the shelf he'd marked earlier. Five or six boxes labeled 'compound bow' were stacked one on top of the other. The one he wanted was easily slid out and laid on the floor, he pulled off the top, picked up the bow from its foam bed and handed it up to her. "Draw that. Got a fifty five pound weight, shouldn't be too bad - you almost got the crossbow loaded the other day."

He watched as she pulled the string back, form was wrong, but she could handle the weight so that was good enough. The bow came in a full set, there was already a quiver, twelve arrows, bow sling, cleaning kit.

"And I thought you'd forgotten," she smiled teasingly, letting the bow rest at her side.

Shit, what the hell had he forgotten? Merle had always told him women got pissed when you forgot shit. He looked up at her - what was it he was supposed to remember? "Yeah...uh…"

She started laughing, "You look like a cat that got thrown in a bath. I was just joking, never told you in the first place."

"Oh." He silently let out a breath, and went back to loading arrows into the quiver. What hadn't she told him? Should he ask?

She saved him the trouble, "It's my birthday...or maybe it was yesterday...I don't know, but I guess I'm twenty one now."

"Oh. Well, uh," he stood up, rubbing the back of his neck as he held out the full quiver to her, "happy birthday, Sunshine."

* * *

><p>Daryl nodded and she stood, slowly and carefully, to draw her bow. The buck was in her sight, clear shot, not a tree in the way. She just needed to breath, take her time, they were down wind - the deer wouldn't notice her as long as she didn't make any big movements. She looked to Daryl again and he nodded encouragingly. Her arm was sore, still hadn't gotten completely used to drawing a bow all the time.<p>

She let out a breath and an arrow, and the buck jumped. Damn it! The arrow had only hit it's flank. Daryl popped up beside her, there was a twang and a bolt appeared in its shoulder. He cursed, watching it leap away.

"C'mon, it's headin back towards camp. We'll track it, catch up, can't keep goin forever with those arrows in it." He touched her arm, gesturing for her to follow.

He pointed out the disturbances in the leaf litter, the little drops of blood, broken twigs and bits of fur. Today was a good day for Daryl, he'd actually been sociable for once - actually he'd been getting more and more friendly over the past couple weeks. Well, maybe friendly was the wrong word, but he talked more.

Maybe he'd just needed time to get used to her. He was still pretty reserved with the rest of the group, but not as quiet as he had been. A couple times he had made something that had resembled conversation with Dale when he'd come to find her at the RV. Dale wasn't all that impressed, actually none of her friends were all that impressed. They still teased her about him, but she had the distinct feeling that none of them felt all warm and fuzzy about Daryl. Hell, half the time she didn't feel all warm and fuzzy about Daryl. He could be a sullen dick.

His relation to Merle didn't help the other's view on him. Merle was much more outgoing, and in this case it was a horrible thing. Damned redneck couldn't keep his mouth shut and wouldn't change his opinions - to say the least he was far from popular.

They were almost back to camp, the deer had been slowing down considerably from the looks of its trail, when they heard children screaming.

Jada.

She took off towards camp, behind her Daryl was hissing for her to wait. She ignored him, dodging in and out of trees and leaping over fallen logs. She was out of breath by the time she reached the little clearing outside of camp. Their deer was on the ground, throat torn out, presumably by the decapitated walker a couple feet away.

"Renee!" A little voice yelled, and she knelt down to hug the girl who ran towards her. She'd been out in the woods for a couple days, Jada had been staying with Amy, Dale. And presumably Andrea, they should've been back from their run by now.

"Are you okay?" Renee asked, pulling back to check the girl over. No bites. Good.

Jada nodded, "I'm glad you're back."

"Me too." She smiled. Daryl had finally caught up with her, apparently he'd noticed the deer - to say the least he was pissed. "Everything go okay while I was gone? We ended up out there a day longer than I thought we'd be."

"Carl found his Dad," she said with a grin. Carl's...dad? Lori had said he was dead. Yet lo and behold there he was - or who she assumed he was. She'd never seen him before, but he had Carl's eyes. Snowball's chance in hell that it could have happened - but there stood the snowball.

"Why don't you run along back to camp. I'm sure you've got stuff you need to be doing. Last time I checked you hadn't done those math problems Lori assigned you." Jada looked a little ashamed, only a little, Renee knew she hated math. The little girl nodded though, butterfly clips clacking together as she ran off.

Daryl's good mood was very quickly fading as he put a bolt through a still biting head and stalked back to camp, yelling for Merle. And he'd been so nice to deal with too…

"Oh no…" Shane groaned, rubbing his jaw in his hand.

"What do you mean oh no?" She asked. Merle hadn't responded to Daryl yet...oh...oh no. "Merle, is he?"

"He's alive, as far as we know," the man that must've been Carl's dad piped up, "There was a problem in Atlanta."

"Let me guess. That problem was Merle?" There was a weird sinking feeling in her gut as she watched Daryl getting closer to camp.

"He was a danger to the group - I...I had to handcuff him to a roof." Carl's dad said, "There was an accident, the key got lost…I heard Daryl might not take it too well."

Renee ran her face through her hands, "No, no he won't." He was yelling for his brother again, something about the squirrel's they'd caught. "I'll tell him."

"No. I'm the reason Merle got left behind -"

Renee shook her head, "He'll take it better coming from me."

Maybe.

**Well that was chapter six. I hope you guys liked it. Updates are going to stay consistent for a while longer than I thought. My creative writing class is doing NaNoWriMo and the story I was working on I just couldn't get into, but I was already 22,000 words into this and had started it in early November so my teacher said I could work on this instead. So I'm writing fanfic for school work now, so that's cool. I hope to hear back from you guys! Updates should be coming every couple of days at least now. **

**See ya soon!**


	7. Would You?

**Woo chapter 7! NaNoWriMo's got me on a roll - I'm completely ignoring all my other responsibilities, but you know what, we're just not going to talk about that...the senioritis is hitting hard. Did it suddenly get really cold for anyone else? Like holy hell I was wearing shorts last week and now it's like 30 degrees fahrenheit - there was just no transition and I had to spend all Saturday out at the barn and it was cold as balls. I got my application for the scholarship in though! I pushed the speed limit to get it to the post office on time, but I did it! **

**Anyways, enough personal rambling. I'd like to thank everyone who is following or favoriting this story. Special thanks to redangel2463, las131984, Starcrier, and XXBlackfireXX for the reviews! Well, on with the chapter, I hope y'all enjoy!**

**Chapter 7 - Would You?**

There was a palpable tension in the air. Everyone knew Merle hadn't come back. Well everyone except Daryl. How do you tell someone something like that? Your brother was too big of a jackass for his own good and has now been left to the elements and god knows what else in the middle of a monster infested city, but uh nice weather today right? Renee was the closest to being able to say she liked the man (excluding Daryl), and even she wasn't shedding any tears. Daryl though...as far as she knew Merle was all he had. He wouldn't be the first to lose someone, and he certainly wouldn't be the last before all of this shit was over, but this time was different - at least for her. She knew Merle _and_ Daryl, she didn't even know if she'd go as far as to call them friends - at least not Merle - but there was some sort of camaraderie, if nothing else, she owed them.

If nothing else, she owed Daryl the truth.

"Daryl…" God she was going to have the will the words out of her mouth. The man glanced back at her, he still had no clue, but he looked concerned now. The way she'd said his name was probably obvious enough, sounded liked condolences at a funeral. She bit her lip, she needed to chipper up, not make it sound like Merle had already been buried. "I think we uh...I think we need to talk."

He blinked, turning fully to face her. There were a lot of eyes on the two of them, standing practically at the heart of the camp, right in front of the RV, "Bout what?"

"Apparently...apparently there was a problem in Atlanta -"

"Merle -" Daryl started, his face falling.

"He's not dead! Not dead!" Renee raised her hands in a gesture that fell somewhere between 'calm down' and 'I'm innocent', "As far as they know, he's still okay, there was just a...a - an accident. He got left behind." Renee swallowed hard, watching him, she had this awful feeling that he was holding back tears. She desperately didn't want to see him cry - it would be like watching a parent or a teacher cry or something, he just wasn't supposed to, it felt wrong. He was the tough guy, Daryl of the two emotions (angry and slightly less angry).

"They did what?" His voice was dangerously quiet, "How the hell do they know he's okay if they fucking left him?!" He took a step towards her, jabbing a finger out at the Atlanta sky line. She flinched, he could get real loud real quick. Up close his eyes looked like the little blue flames in a gas stove. She could feel his breath as he watched her, waiting for an answer.

The RV door creaked open, Dale and Andrea looked concerned. Everyone did as they silently waited to see what the temperamental redneck would do.

"I asked how they know!" His voice sounded like it was about to crack, each breath came one after the other.

"From what I know he was handcuffed to a roof -"

"How long?" He was quiet that time.

"I -"

"How long!?" He yelled and she screamed over him,

"I don't know!"

Carl's dad - Rick, he'd said his name was Rick - broke the silence from his place some ten or fifteen feet behind her, "We left Atlanta yesterday afternoon."

"Who the hell are you?" Daryl asked, eyes shooting up to look over her shoulder.

"My name's Rick, Rick Grimes. Look I'm sorry, I'm the one who cuffed your -"

"You fucking bastard!" He shoved past her, and she stumbled backwards only avoiding a fall when T-Dog rushed up to grab her, "You left my brother to die! You left him to die and you couldn't even man up to it?! Left some dumb bitch to do your dirty work for ya?!"

Renee bit her lip, suddenly finding the ground very interesting. That stung. T-Dog squeezed her arm. He was just angry, and hurting, and confused - she knew that, but still...it stung. She could feel an unwanted flush in her cheeks, and she kept her gaze on either the ground or the two men - she didn't want to see anyone else. Didn't want to see Dale or Andrea or Amy, and god forbid if Jada was watching - she just didn't want to know.

"Look, Daryl, your brother was a danger to the group. He was going to get all of us killed, I did what I had to -"

"You left him!" Daryl yelled, turning his back on Rick. He wasn't looking at her but she could see his face was all screwed up, he gave a quiet sniff and wiped at his eyes. "You left him chained like a fucking dog!"

It happened too fast for her to react. His buck knife was out flashing in the sun as he swung around on Rick. People gasped, a couple screamed - one might have been her, she wasn't sure. There was that Dixon temper, tried and true, you just had to push Daryl a little harder than Merle to get the big guns. Shane had him in a choke hold and on the ground in a matter of seconds, Rick left untouched. Renee still couldn't breath.

It took a while to get Daryl calmed back down. She waited that long, before making her way to the RV. They were starting to form a rescue team, Daryl, Rick, Glenn, T-Dog. Renee glanced at them as she passed, and Daryl caught her eye - she kept walking.

* * *

><p>She spent the next hour or so in the RV reading to Jada. They were already half way through <em>The Horse and His Boy<em>. If they kept this pace up Renee would need to go out and find another book. Maybe she'd be able to pick up a copy of Harry Potter from the gridlock - someone had to have brought that.

Dale had wanted to talk about the whole scene outside when she'd come in. She didn't want to, but it was Dale and he kept pushing till she threatened to go sit alone in her tent if he didn't shut up about it. He'd relented, and gave her some of the leftovers from breakfast while she and Jada read. It was nice until Carl and Sophia showed up wanting to play with Jada, and quite suddenly Renee was left alone to choose between her thoughts and Dale making her really think about her thoughts.

Neither were optimal.

Every once in a while she'd glance out the window and see him brooding by the big cube van waiting for the others to get ready. She could tell he was impatient, something was always moving - a foot tapping on the ground, knuckles banging out a rhythm on the van's door. Part of her wanted to go say goodbye, tell him to be safe - but another part wasn't so sure...she'd never seen him like that before. It was like Merle on a bad day - she was used to Daryl being the tamer baby brother.

She wasn't sure why she thought things would go any better if she was the one to break the news. It wasn't like they had a special bond or were best friends or anything. Merle was his brother, she was just some bitch he'd gotten saddled with.

Eventually the van rolled off and Amy popped back into the RV, "Hey," she smiled, she'd just come back from saying goodbye to Glenn, "Me and Andrea were going to go fishing later, but I've got some time if you wanna go swim or take a walk or something." That little hint of concern was starting to slip into her voice, just like Dale's (except a thousand times more subtle, a quality Dale was lacking in). Renee nodded, standing up, Amy wouldn't be pushy.

She wasn't really feeling the whole swimming thing today, but the water sounded relaxing so the two of them walked down the quarry road to go sit on the rocks. The sun was warm and pretty soon they'd taken off their shirts to sunbathe - she was going to regret that later when she looked like a boiled lobster, but for now the sun felt nice. It was just another hot day, of another hot summer. For a little while she could forget the Dixons and forget the dead, forget Jada, forget the apocalypse. If she closed her eyes real tight she was on the beach, listening to the waves and ignoring her brother yelling for her to come throw a football around with them.

Maybe next summer she would be there again, put all this mess behind her, and pretend it had never happened.

"I don't think he really thinks you're a dumb bitch," Amy said quietly, dragging a toe over the water.

"I know," Renee didn't open her eyes. "It doesn't matter really. I don't need to care about what he thinks - it's not like you and Glenn, you're practically a hop skip and a jump away from that boy's pants. Daryl's just...he's just some guy."

"I know we give you a lot of flack about him," Amy rolled over on her side to face Renee, "And honestly he has a worse temper than I thought, but if you guys are friends -"

"We're not," Renee interjected. She wasn't wholly certain she was telling the truth.

"Whatever." Amy waved her off, "You need to talk to him, whether you're friends or not you spend most of your time with him -"

"No. Uh uh, I have a strict no confrontation policy." Renee shook her head empathetically.

Amy blinked a few times, "Did the whole thing with Jim just not happen?"

"That was different!" She protested, "That was about food not feelings."

"Ahah! So you admit you feel something -"

"No! No I - you know what? You're worse than Dale," Renee grumbled, grabbing her shirt to get up. She didn't need the third degree right now, and from the feel of the sun on her skin she was probably going to have third degree burns anyway - interrogation on top of that was just unnecessary.

"Wait!" Amy grabbed her shoulder, "Fine, we won't talk about Daryl, just promise you'll think about talking to him. The whole thing today was hard on both of you - and if they don't find Merle you're the closest thing to something he has left."

Renee sighed, sitting back down, "Since when do you give a shit about Daryl Dixon?"

"I know what it's like - wondering if you'll ever see your big sibling again...Daryl and Merle are both temperamental assholes, but I know where Daryl was coming from. Merle's family, he's all he's got." Amy got kind of quiet, Renee didn't know what to say. Part of her was kind of glad she didn't have her family with her. Sometimes it felt like it wouldn't be worth it, when they were out of sight they weren't out of mind, just out of hell. They were on the beach surfing and fishing, they were happy.

She didn't have to worry seeing them turn up with stiff smiles and cold hands.

"How much longer?" Renee asked, "How much longer, do you think it will be like this?" She settled back against the scalding rocks, "It can't last forever can it? We'll see the end of it, won't we?"

"Yeah I give it a year tops for the government to get back together, get those things cleared out. This is just like a gap year for us, we'll go back next fall, finish our degrees, and have something interesting to write about in our grad school essays." Amy assured her, and they giggled. It would be interesting to say the least.

"We'll still be friends." Renee didn't say it like a question, "Even after all this is sorted out, we'll still be friends."

"Definitely," Amy grinned.

* * *

><p>Daryl had known he'd fucked up, and fucked up badly, from the moment he'd managed to cool his head - from the moment he saw the look on Renee's face. He'd lost control of his temper, let out the side that reminded him a little too much of his old man, and while she hadn't been the target she'd gotten caught in the backlash. He didn't give three fucks about what Rick or Shane or any of them thought about him - maybe the knife had been overkill - but for some reason he was worried about her. He was worried about what she thought of him, and that worried him too.<p>

He wasn't worried about Merle. His brother was a tough son of a bitch, and he knew for a fact that Merle could do anything Officers Friendly and Dickbag could do with one hand tied behind his back - or gone. Maybe it didn't matter what Sunshine thought of him, whether or not Merle could get along on his own Daryl still wanted to find him - and he had distinct feeling Renee wouldn't be a part of that plan. She had that kid to look out for, Jada, and even if they found Merle he didn't think she wanted Jada to be around his big brother. Jada was black, and Merle had practically gotten himself and everyone else killed 'cause he couldn't keep his racist shit to himself.

He was never going to say it to Rick, and he didn't plan on forgiving him either, but he understood why Merle was a problem. No matter where the two of them had gone, Merle had always been a problem.

There had been more than one hold up in Atlanta, including a missing van, and it was already dark when they turned up the quarry road. Could hardly see anything but the distant flicker of campfires when he heard the first scream. His heart froze for a second as the four of them came to a stop. He cursed, pulling his crossbow over his back and loading a bolt.

There was a zip as the bag of guns was opened and Rick passed him a rifle. He nodded, putting the crossbow back over his shoulders as backup, and the four of them took off for camp. The screams grew louder and more frequent as they got closer, no matter how fast they ran, they didn't seem to be getting there fast enough. He couldn't help but picture Renee's red hair wreathed in fire and blood. He ran faster, though he didn't quite know why he cared. The only thing left there for him were his truck and Merle's bike.

He could get as far away as he wanted now, Red had replaced his brake pads for him last week. He didn't have to care, but for some reason he was pretty sure he did.

The camp was chaos, in the flickering light it was hard to tell who was dead and who was about to be. He raised the rifle and pulled the trigger, a skull burst open and what he hoped was a walker tumbled to the ground. Some screamed while they ran, more than a few screamed as flesh was ripped from bone. One more down, two, three, four - how much ammo did he have? The tell tale hiss of an arrow caught his attention, a walker keeled over with a feather in its forehead.

"Jada get in the RV!" She yelled, red hair gleaming in the firelight. The little girl was crying, clinging to Renee's leg while the woman landed another headshot. He hadn't thought she could do it, but sometimes adrenaline does wonders. "Jada go! I'll be right behind you, I promise." She was so busy ushering the kid towards the door she didn't notice the geek coming up right behind her.

He raised the rifle, and the side of the RV was stained red as the walker slumped against it. Brown eyes snapped up to meet his, she nodded her thanks and pushed Jada the rest of the way into the old Winnebago just as a pair of hands gripped her shoulders, pulling her back to the dirt. There was no way he could get a clear shot, he took off at a sprint towards her, he had to get to her before that geek's mouth did.

The thing had Renee pinned to the ground, hand reaching for her cheek, mouth going for her neck. It almost looked like they were about to kiss. He wasn't going to make it to her in time. Suddenly she had gripped its arms and flipped it, giving her time to draw her knife before it pulled her back into its embrace. Quick as a fish she grabbed its upper arms, slid herself down and out, and rolled just far enough away that she could get a good downwards swing with her knife.

Merle had taught her well.

She was crouched on the ground, breathing heavily, by the time he slid down to kneel next to her. His hands found her shoulders, gently pulling her to her feet as she leaned into him, head heavy on his chest arms limp at her sides. He was too tired to pull away as the last gun shot was fired, he just held her and tried not to listen to Andrea's sobs.

Amy was dead. Renee gave an odd twitch, a hand finding his shirt and holding on tight as the tears started to fall.

* * *

><p>Renee wasn't sure how much Jada understood. Renee wasn't sure how much she understood herself. Lori had taken the kids - the ones who hadn't died, Sarah-Ann and her girls had been grouped into the body count - down to the quarry, keep them away while the adults took care of things. Renee had been tempted to go too, but Amy was dead. It felt wrong to just pretend that nothing had happened. She couldn't just close her eyes and wish she were at the beach. If nothing else, she owed it to Andrea to just be there, even if she didn't want her company.<p>

The sisters had been together since the moment Amy had bled out on the ground, neither one moving, though everyone was waiting for the younger one to start again. It was only a matter of time. Renee only hoped she wasn't nearby when she did...she didn't want to see her friend like that.

"How's she holding up?" Renee jumped a bit, Carol had come up beside her. She glanced back at Andrea, she was wrapping something shimmery around Amy's crimson neck.

"Could be worse...but I think that's still pretty damn far from good." Renee let out a sigh. Everytime she thought she had this new world figured out it came around to bite her in the ass.

"And you?" Carol asked. For the first time Renee noticed the woman was spattered in more blood than she had been that morning.

"Could be worse." It was quiet for a moment as they watched Andrea caress her baby sister's cheek, "I heard about Ed."

The older woman nodded solemnly, she looked too tired to be sad, "I think he deserved it."

"I think he did too."

"He didn't always used to be like that, when we first got together he was so sweet...I always wondered what changed him, if it was something I did."

"Would that have mattered?" Renee asked, looking back up to Carol.

"No I suppose not...no matter the reason, he was still an…"

"Ass?" Renee supplied. Carol gave a wan smile and a bitter laugh.

"I suppose so."

Everyone had run out of tears, at least for now. Renee had found they came in waves. The first had been in Daryl's arms, strangled and broken. The second had been holding a sleeping Jada, silent and completely unwanted. The third had been alone, washing dishes in the RV that morning, those had flown freely, puffy eyes and snotty nose. She was still waiting on round four.

It hit her a couple hours later, when Amy opened her eyes. The brilliant blue had been clouded over, her soft voice nothing but harsh snarls. The same teeth that smiled at her, told her they'd be still be friends when the world was right again, now smiled at her sister's neck. The girl who had gone out once in blood out tears, left the world again with a bang.

It was so quiet.

* * *

><p>The bodies were burned and buried, one more was waiting to die in the RV. Breakfast would be a lot quieter now, with two spots at the RV table empty. She was thinking about bringing food down to the quarry for the kids when he sat down next to her, streaked in grime and blood. His temper had been unstable still, quiet moments interspersed with violent outbursts. They all dealt in their own way.<p>

"Thank you," she said softly, "For being there last night, after…"

He didn't say anything, just nodded when she glanced up at him. She took a deep breath, her eyes still felt raw after watching Amy die again. No not Amy, that wasn't Amy, it was just a thing. A hollow shell with a monster inside.

"I crossed a line yesterday." He paused for a moment, adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed, "I shouldn't have." That was as closed to sorry as she expected to get from Daryl Dixon. Tears pricked her eyes again and she sniffed heavily as she tried not to succumb to round five. She was having that talk Amy had wanted her to have. A hand reached out for her shoulder, thumb making tentative circles on her arm, he looked about as confused as she felt. Probably more so, he didn't even know why she was crying.

"I'm sorry," she cringed as her voice cracked, "It's just been a fucked day."

He nodded, "Yeah." She could feel him tense up as she leaned her head into his shoulder, she didn't care, she was tired. They were quiet for a long time, while she waited for that horrible tight feeling in her throat to pass.

"You really think we should just kill Jim?" She asked, not moving from her spot on his shoulder.

"No point in letting him suffer. Risking someone else gettin infected. S'what I would want, if I got bit. Man put a gun to my head, and I'd thank him while he pulled the trigger."

He had a point, but the thought still left a weird feeling in her gut, "What if it was me? Would you pull the trigger?"

He turned so that his nose was in her hair, lips just above her forehead, "Would you want me to?"

She didn't know.

**Well it's one thirty in the morning here. I won't actually publish this chapter till some reasonable hour when normal people are awake - I'm pretty tired, so I'm going to wait to do a read through and check for errors until I'm awake again. That was a bit of a heavy chapter. Can't promise the next chapter won't be a bit on the dark side as well, though it will have a few more lighter moments - I think…**

**Well I hope you guys enjoyed! Thank you so much for all your support, I hope to hear back from you guys. **

**See ya soon!**


	8. The Goose

**Well here we are chapter eight. Currently starting this chapter from my creative writing class, because we're working on our NaNo pieces. Wow I just haven't been keeping up with my responsibilities, and sometimes that works out for me (got a 100 on an AP CompGov test that I just didn't study for, I'm calling it an early Christmas miracle) or not so well (My D in AP Lit cause I just haven't turned things in). But I'm keeping up with this, this is the most consistent I've ever been with a fanfic so I'm going to call that a win. **

**Thank you to everyone who has favorited and followed this story. Special thanks to Starcrier, CrimsonHeart77, sPaRkzZz, las131984, and redangel2463 for the reviews! Anyways on to the chapter, I hope you all enjoy! **

**Chapter 8 - The Goose**

The world had gone to shit, but the Camaro kept puttering along. Damn thing was forty years old and holding up a hell of a lot better than everything else. They'd left the quarry behind, two months of paradise in hell. Jada cried for the first time since the night the walkers had come while they watched the blue water disappear behind them, her torn up bear clutched to her chest. She had loved swimming so much. Renee wasn't sure if she was supposed to talk to Jada - how she was supposed to talk to Jada - about that night. She wasn't cut out for this - for being a mom.

She was good with the fun stuff, reading books and giving piggyback rides - but Jada had lost two of her friends, watched even more people die, watched Amy die...that had to have affected her. But what the hell was she supposed to say? She wished her own mom was there, she would have known what to do - she was a psychiatrist for god's sake, this was her thing. Hell, at this point all of them could use a little therapy. A week of fucking R&R. A couple days, a couple hours, just a moment to forget.

She'd give anything to close her eyes, and be listening to the waves on Wilmington beach.

Instead there was nothing but the sound of the engine and endless Georgia countryside. They had to take the long way around - the CDC was on the far side of Atlanta and all the highways were clogged up. They'd stopped up at the gridlock for gas, Daryl finally taught her how to siphon tanks for herself. Jada had taken the opportunity to beg her to ride with Carl and Sophia in Rick's car. Renee couldn't say no.

The last hour had been very quiet. God did she miss the radio.

The RV was up front, part of her wished she was up there with them. Sitting at the table with Andrea while Dale called back from the driver's seat. She could use the company, she was pretty sure Andrea could use it too - she'd gotten a lot quieter since Amy died. She couldn't leave the Camaro though... Dad would kill her if she came home without it. This car was his baby.

Daryl's old ford was rumbling along behind her, Merle's bike strapped in the back. Shane's jeep brought up the rear. She could see the tops of Jada's floofy little buns twisting this way and that to keep up with whatever conversation the two older kids were having. They had squished her and Sophia into the middle seat together so that Carol wouldn't have to find a new ride. Renee wouldn't have minded if she joined her in the Camaro, but she was pretty sure Carol wanted to keep an eye on Sophie more than she wanted leg room.

Sighing heavily she tapped out a rhythm on the steering wheel, just imagining the tune it went to. She really should have invested in CDs.

Jim was still alive, for now. He'd looked like shit the last time she'd seen him. After seeing what it did to you - when you didn't bleed out nice and quick - she'd have an easier time answering Daryl's question. She still wasn't sure, but she could see the big con in waiting it out - that thing hit you like a flu straight from hell. Renee had had the flu once and never skipped a vaccine again, she'd spent two weeks lying in her dorm room feeling like some jackass had poured needles in her bed.

Jaquie had been taking care of him. The two hadn't talked a lot before, but she was still there for him. Maybe she felt bad? She'd been the one to point out the bite to the group. Though Renee didn't quite see why she should, it was better that they knew sometime before he...died.

Brake lights flashed red, and she let the Camaro roll to a stop. Had Jim? She didn't know if she was ready for anyone else to go just yet. Her fears were eased when she saw steam billowing up from the RV, she could deal with car engines just fine.

Throwing the Camaro into park she hopped out and joined the stream of people heading for the front of the RV. Rick was already halfway out of the car, telling the kids and Lori to wait inside, when Renee popped up next to Carol's window and motioned for her to roll it down.

"Hey." Renee smiled, "How's everything going in there?"

"Good!" The kids chorused.

"You being good for Mr. and Mrs. Grimes? You ain't giving them or any trouble now are you?"

Jada shook her head a little too quickly, and Renee glanced over to Carol.

"There may have been a slight altercation over a pack of fruit snacks." Carol gave her a bemused smile, and Renee sighed before quirking an eyebrow at Jada. She didn't doubt that at all.

"I said I was sorry!" Jada defended herself, "And I even shared them!"

"Pfft," Carl scoffed, "You only gave me, like, three."

"There weren't that many!" Jada's voice jumped an octave, "And I gave some to Sophia! You're just being selfish!"

"Hey," Lori turned to give the kids 'the mom glare', Renee was all too familiar with it, "You three need to settle down, you hear?" It was like magic. Lori was a hell of a lot better at this shit than Renee would ever be.

"Yeah, listen to Lori," Renee tried to give Jada some sort of mom expression, she had a feeling it wasn't working, "and Carol. I hear you're causing trouble and it's straight back to the Camaro."

"But the Camaro's sooo boring!"

"Well that's just too bad isn't it?" Renee grumbled, trying not to take offense, she wasn't that boring was she?

She gave Jada one more, 'behave', before heading up to the RV. Dale was staring at the steaming engine, exasperated, the 'radiator hose' - or as Renee liked to call it, 'the walker of car parts' - must have finally given out. The damn thing was more duct tape than hose at this point, she was kind of surprised it had made it this long.

"Why the hell ain't we moving?" The familiar southern twang came up beside her, apparently Daryl had gotten bored of just sitting in his truck. Practically everyone was up front, staring at the open grill on the Winnebago like sheer will power would get it going again.

"Radiator hose?" Renee looked to Dale, and he nodded.

"Yep, she's finally kaput," Dale sighed, wiping his hands off on an old rag.

"Is there anything you can do?" Rick asked, "Jerry rig it?"

Dale let out a wheezing, half-hearted laugh, "I can try, but I don't know. Me and Renee might be able to manage something - I know this old thing inside and out, and she's a wiz kid when it comes to mechanics, but at this point there's only so much that can be done. That hose only kept going this long on duct tape and good faith."

"Can we get a new one?" Shane asked, rubbing his hand over his jaw.

"I mean, if you can find one." Dale gestured out to the empty road, forest on either side. There weren't exactly any other cars around, much less one that had the hose they needed.

"There's a town, about ten miles up the road," Shane said, "Could run up there, find the parts."

"I'll come with." Renee spoke up, "I know what we need." Shane nodded, agreeing that she could join him and she smiled, "I'll go get my bow, meet you at the jeep?"

She needed something useful to do. Lori and Carol had the kids, Jaquie had Jim, Rick had his...Rick stuff. It would be nice to feel like she was contributing, the last couple days she'd felt like a bump on a log. Hadn't been able to calm down Daryl, hadn't been all that much help clearing bodies - if nothing else she could go pick up a spare part.

Footsteps dogged behind her as she stopped by Rick's car again, letting Jada know where she was off to. She was almost at the Camaro when Daryl caught up with her.

"The hell you doin going off with him?" Daryl asked, keeping his voice low.

"What do you mean 'the hell I'm doin?' I'm getting us a damn radiator hose." She slung the quiver over her back and hung the bow over her shoulder. The quicker they got going again the more likely they'd get Jim help - even then the chances weren't great. She had to admit she'd agreed with Shane, Fort Benning was the better option. It was farther away, but the military would be there, they would be safe instead of marching back into that shit hole of a city. But the decision had been made, and she was just going to have to deal with it. The thought of finding help for Jim was nice...but she just didn't know how much time he had left.

"With him?" Daryl stood close behind her, practically growling in her ear. She knew Daryl and Shane had their differences, but that wasn't her problem. She liked both of them just fine.

"Yes with him. He's a bit of hard head, but he's a good guy, and good with a gun."

Daryl snorted, leaning back against the Camaro, "I don't like him."

"Daryl, you don't like anyone." He didn't seem to know how to respond to that. She looked up, a bit of a smile touching her lips when she met his eyes. She had grumpy-pants there. He just scowled, muttered something under his breath, and stalked back to the truck.

She shook her head, pushing down a smile, and headed for the jeep.

* * *

><p>Her hair caught and snapped in the wind as they flew down the road, every once in a while an unexpected curve would pop up and she'd lean this way or that as they rocketed around it. For a cop, he really didn't give a shit about speed limits. Not that that mattered anymore. They had another five or ten minutes till they'd get to town, though at this rate she'd put her money on five.<p>

"So, must be a bit of a shock, huh?" Renee said over the sound of rushing air.

"Hmm?" Shane kept his eyes on the road.

"I mean your best friend came back from the dead, like what, two, three days ago?" Renee twisted in her seat so that her upper body faced him, her neck was getting sore from sitting in cars for too long.

"Yeah...It's been weird. Nice, nice, don't get me wrong...just uh, wasn't expecting it." He said, taking one hand off the wheel as he talked. Renee nodded when he looked over, from what she'd heard Rick had been a coma when this started. The fact that he woke up wouldn't have been all that surprising if there had been doctors, or medicine, or anything other than him and a bed for a month. She would have been surprised too.

"You and Lori okay?" She asked, and he looked over at her sharply.

"What?" He asked. Wow he'd gotten jumpy quick.

"Oh. Sorry, that probably wasn't my business - I just thought that you two, were well - I don't know. I won't mention it again." Renee stumbled over her words, normally she was a bit better with tact.

"Thought he was dead." Shane sounded like he was defending himself, though not from her.

"No. No, I - that's understandable. Don't worry I get it." She gave him a reassuring smile, "I don't even know if anyone else knew - I just kind of thought you were from the get go," she laughed nervously, "I won't tell anyone. Let you three sort that shit out on your own time."

He nodded his thanks.

She squinted at something stopped up ahead, a big, white something. She looked over at Shane, he'd seen it too.

"Is that the cube van?" She asked. How the hell had it gotten out here?

The jeep came to a stop and she hopped out, nocking an arrow as the two of them slowly made their way up to the front. He raised a finger to his lips, and then slowly gripped the door handle. With his other hand he counted: three...two...one. The door flew open, she pulled the string back, ready to let fly - empty. It was empty. Blood stained the steering wheel, the dashboard, the console - red-brown and congealing.

"Come on, lets go get the hose." Shane put a hand on her shoulder.

She shook her head, "Merle took this van. He's gotta be nearby - with that much blood in there...he couldn't have gone far. We can find him."

"Ain't worth the trouble -" Shane reasoned, but she cut him off.

"His brother is back there!" She jabbed her finger in the direction they'd come.

"So's my best friend! So's Jim, and Dale, and Jada!" He looked at her pointedly, "Merle was lost a long time before he got cuffed to that roof. That blood in there's at least half a day old, and with that much...He's dead already - ain't no point in wasting time on a lost cause."

"It doesn't take two to pull out a hose," she said, stalking off after the blood drips on the ground.

"What the hell you looking for? A body?" Shane came after her, grabbing her shoulder. She spun quickly to face him, and he stumbled over his own feet trying to stop before he ran into her.

"If that's what's left then yes. Daryl deserves to know - if nothing else - he deserves to have proof that he's gone." Shane glared, but he didn't protest further, "I won't go far, please, just give me fifteen minutes. Merle Dixon is a bigoted asshole, but he saved my life. If he's still out there I owe him. I owe Daryl."

Shane took a deep breath, "Fine. Fifteen minutes. Yell if you need help."

"Thank you." She gave him an honest smile, and turned to follow Merle's trail.

He hadn't left the road, blood spattered the pavement and grass. Heavy bootprints indented the mud on the shoulder every few meters, he must have been staggering on and off the blacktop as he walked. She was surprised the son of a bitch could keep going this long, surprised she couldn't see him now, face down in the dirt. He just didn't have that much blood left to lose. However she found him, she prayed he wouldn't be like Gonzales - blood and bones. When she found him she'd have Shane help her bring him back, let Daryl say goodbye, give him some sort of proper burial. Merle Dixon had saved her from being torn to scraps, if she could, she'd save him the same fate.

The trail kept going around the bend, she couldn't see Shane anymore, but she still couldn't see Merle. She kept her eyes down, following the crimson road. Foot print after foot print, she didn't know how fast he was going, or how old the trail was - Daryl would have, but he wasn't here - but it was something to follow. The toe of one print dug deeper into the soil than the rest, a few feet ahead the heel of a palm and a few fingers were smeared into the mud. He'd fallen over.

There were thick streaks where he'd pulled himself up, and the haphazard foot prints and blood splatters went on for another hundred yards or so before he'd fallen over again. This time it was hard to tell where he'd gotten up, there were too many foot prints - foot prints that weren't his. Her heart fell...walkers? There wasn't a body, had he been bit? Wandered off down the road? It didn't make sense, the new footprints hadn't come from anywhere, they didn't go anywhere, they had come out of nowhere and taken Merle with. His trail didn't go on.

They still wouldn't know if it was Merle or his corpse walking out there. It was a start though. She could give Daryl something to follow. Amy had said nothing scared her more than the thought of losing Andrea. Renee's brother had been lost to her from the moment all this shit started, he was just a memory and some California sun, but Daryl deserved a chance.

The trek back to the cube van didn't take long. Shane was waiting, spare parts in hand and an impatient scowl on his face.

"You find him?"

"No. Trail went cold," Renee said as they headed back for the Jeep, "Hard to tell what happened, a bunch of other prints showed up all of a sudden - mighta been walkers, couldn't figure it out - they didn't come from anywhere, didn't go anywhere, Merle disappeared with them. Daryl's the better tracker, he'll know what to make of it."

"No." Shane shook his head as turned the key in the ignition.

"No?"

"Don't tell Daryl. We never saw the van, never saw any sign of Merle." He almost sounded...casual.

"I can't lie -" She started, indignant.

"You won't be lying." He said as they turned back towards the caravan, "Just won't be telling the truth. We need the group to stay together right now - can't have people goin off on a goose chase while everyone else goes into Atlanta or heads for Fort Benning. We need the manpower. He'll get himself killed out there looking for Merle, and as much as I hate to say it we need him around. He's almost as big an ass as his brother, but he's a hunter, a fighter. We can't lose him."

"Merle's his brother," she said, they couldn't just not tell Daryl. He deserved to know.

"And Rick's mine. When it came down to it, when I knew there was no hope in trying to save him - I got Lori and Carl, I got our f_amily_ out of there. I told them what I had to, what I thought I knew was as near to the goddamn truth as it was going to get. I took care of my own." He took a deep breath, and looked over at her, "I don't know what there is between you and Daryl. Ain't my business. But if you want to take care of him, if you wanna take care of Jada, you'll keep your mouth shut."

They weren't back yet. Why the hell weren't they back yet? Daryl's attention flitted back and forth between his knife and the empty road in front of them. He twirled the blade, watching the silvery metal catch the sunlight. If she'd wanted to go off so badly he could've gone with her, didn't have to be Officer Dickbag. He'd been sitting up on the hood of his truck for a while now, there hadn't been much to do. They were all just waiting for Renee to come back or for Jim to die.

" ?" A small voice asked. That was weird, people never really called him mister anything.

"My name's Daryl," he told Jada, offering her hand to climb up on the hood next to him.

"How much longer till Renee's back?" She asked, settling down on the faded blue metal. Jada was a good kid as far as he could tell, could be loud as hell sometimes, but she was a good kid. He didn't really spend a lot of time around her, but Renee talked about her more often than not. She and Jada did this, Jada did that, Jada wasn't doing well in math, Jada was such a good dancer. He didn't see why any of that mattered anymore.

"Not sure. Should be back soon, if she ain't I'll take my bike, see where she and Shane got off too." He put his knife back in its sheath.

"Could I come?" She asked excitedly.

"No, Renee would be pissed as hell if I let you on a motorcycle." He'd almost like to see the shit storm he'd get if he rode up with Jada hanging on behind him...almost.

"Mama always said you shouldn't say bad words."

"Is your Mama here?" She got quiet for a while. Maybe he shouldn't have said that? He didn't really spend a lot of time around kids. He'd always been the youngest of the group when he was little, and he and Merle had never stuck in one place long enough to see their friend's babies get any older. He liked babies though, they were cute. Dumb, but cute.

"I'm hungry as hell," she said suddenly, emphasizing the hell as much as he could.

Daryl laughed, kid wasn't half bad, "Got some jerky in the truck." He hopped down and started fishing around in the glove compartment, the bag of jerky had been in there since before all this shit, but he didn't really think jerky went bad. He grabbed a couple pieces, hopped back up on the hood, and handed one to Jada.

Her nose wrinkled, "What's this?"

"Meat," Daryl said, biting off a hunk.

"It looks funny."

"It's dried, eat it." Daryl said as he chewed. She took a nibble, and then a bite. Apparently she liked it.

Dale stepped out of the RV, going to talk to Rick. It must of been about Jim, because pretty soon the two of them had headed back into the Winnebago. Rick had a lot of hope, the blind kind. Jim wasn't going to make it, not if Renee and Shane got back, not if they made it to the CDC, not if God himself dropped out of the fucking clouds.

He paused mid-chew when he heard the sound of the jeep coming up the road. They were back. Renee's red hair was flying out behind her, she was frowning, but otherwise she looked fine. Shane looked like he had a stick up his ass, but that wasn't exactly a change of pace. Daryl didn't make a move to go find her, she wasn't bit or nothing, so he stayed put with his jerky while Jada ran off.

They'd be back on the road soon. He might as well take a nap.

* * *

><p>"Daryl, what the hell?" He jumped slightly, blinking. Renee must have climbed up into the truck bed while he was sleeping. His side stung a bit where she'd kicked him. He rubbed a hand over his eyes, sky was too damn bright to be looking up at her right now.<p>

He tried to say, "What?" But it came out as a confused grumble. What the hell had he done to get her all pissed? Had hardly talked to her today.

"You told Jada it was okay to curse."

Oh. "...Yeah."

"Why?" she raised her hands in exasperation. He shifted, sitting up against the truck's cab. Apparently he didn't even have to put the kid on a motorcycle to get Renee going.

"Ain't no reason for her not to. They're just words," Daryl said, trying to get the taste of sleep out of his mouth. Damn, he hated being woken up.

"She's a child, Daryl. What's Lori gonna think when my kid shows up sounding like she was born in a fucking barn, what's Carol gonna think?" She pointed off towards the rest of the caravan.

"What's it matter what they think? She ain't gonna start street walkin' 'cause she says hell."

"Just don't do it again, okay?" Renee gave up, turning to walk back down to the tailgate and jump off.

"You get that hose okay, Sunshine? You were gone a while." He pointed out. She turned and looked at him for a long time, her jaw clenched. The hell was up with her today? She didn't look angry anymore, just...worried? Fuck if he knew.

She hopped down, "Just took a while to find parts."

* * *

><p>Jim had made the decision to stay behind. She'd made the decision to let Merle's trail go cold. There was this twisting feeling in her gut, one that said that that wasn't her decision to make. She knew it wasn't. She knew she should stop the Camaro, walk up to Daryl, and tell him they were going the wrong way, tell him they needed to go find Merle, but Shane's words kept ringing through her head.<p>

She needed Daryl, Jada needed Daryl, Merle was more likely than not dead - when you're dead you don't need anyone. They needed to stay together, stay with the group, not go on a goose chase for a walking corpse. Still there was that chance that Merle had gotten away, that the footprints had been people not walkers...she couldn't have known, but Daryl could've. Daryl would have been able to tell.

She tried to tell herself it didn't matter now. They were already picking through the outskirts of Atlanta. She was being selfish, as much as she tried to tell herself she was doing this for Jada, for her safety, for Daryl's, she knew she wasn't. That was what scared her.

Jada wasn't talking to her, she was pouting over being brought back to the Camaro. Post-apocalyptic time out for cursing. It sounded silly, but she needed her to...fuck it, she didn't know, maintain some semblance of normalcy? Just cause the world had gone to shit didn't mean there couldn't be rules.

"You been doing okay?" Renee asked, glancing in the rear view mirror. Jada didn't look up. "I know you really liked Amy." Renee fought to keep her voice steady there, she'd really liked Amy too.

"She won't come back." Jada said quietly.

"No, no she won't. Andrea made sure of that." Renee's heart was beating all weird. She didn't know why she'd started this conversation.

"But I'll miss her."

"Sweetie...she was gone for good when she died. Just because you come back doesn't mean _you _come back. You understand?" Jada nodded, "Promise me you'll remember that," Renee said, watching a herd of walkers turn to follow the caravan, "Promise me you'll remember those aren't people. Not anymore."

Jada nodded again, and was quiet for a very long time. Renee figured she was back to ignoring her, "Are we there yet?" The little girl piped up suddenly.

Renee started laughing, gripping the steering wheel harder so they wouldn't crash, "Almost, sweetie. Almost."

**Well that was chapter eight. I thought I was going to skirt over the journey and jump straight into the CDC but I ended up putting the scene with Shane and the whole Merle conflict in instead. So we'll have a couple more chapters in season one and maybe a couple chapters between one and two, not sure yet. Hope you guys liked it! I'm so thankful for the support I've been receiving - the story got over five hundred views the day chapter seven was posted. I hope to hear back from you guys. **

**See ya soon :)**


	9. Candyshop Blunders

**It's almost Thanksgiving break here, I just really want it to be Thanksgiving break. I'm going to be house sitting for these people with a farm and some horses (and chickens, and cows, and guinea hens, and goats, and like three cats). Or technically my friend is, but I'll be tagging along cause there's a lot of work and she doesn't want to sleep there alone. I just really need to get my shit together in school - we have a test on Frankenstein tomorrow and I just haven't read the book….**

**This chapter's a bit on the shorter side, but not to much so. Thanks so much to anyone who has favorited or followed this story. Special thanks to redangel2463, Starcrier, sillygabby, las131984, and Black Roses Wilt for the reviews! I hope you guys enjoy!**

**Chapter 9 - Candyshop Blunders**

"You're killing us!" Rick screamed, "You're killing us!" She cringed as the boom of fists on metal echoed out around them. They needed to go, they needed to get out. The stench was overpowering, at least a hundred bodies accompanied by the mind numbing buzz of many many more flies. She couldn't breath.

"Rick! Rick we need to go!" She heard Shane yelling somewhere behind her. Some of the less docile corpses were shambling over. She hated the way they'd move and twist around, it was like some sort of sick marionette. She couldn't breath. Jada clung to her leg, Daryl was at her side - crossbow raised - a bolt flew and a walker fell. She kept her bow drawn, she couldn't get a good mark. She couldn't breath.

"You're killing us!" Rick screamed again and she loosed an arrow, it flew left and clattered to the ground.

"Relax," Daryl breathed beside her, "Seen you make headshots from the same distance. Take your time." His voice was tense, the hypocrite, at least he could still make a shot.

"That was different!" She snapped. Jada had started crying. More walkers were coming up from the east.

Daryl looked around at the bodies, in the background Rick, Shane, and Andrea were yelling, "It just ain't. Now set your shot up right, like I showed you, and take a damn breath."

She did, holding back a retch as the smell hit her, and drew back. The first arrow embedded itself where the walker's should met its neck, "Damn it." She hissed.

"Don't rush it," Daryl sounded like he was doing his best to keep calm for her sake. It was hard though, the walkers kept getting closer, Rick wouldn't leave, and Andrea had made a good point. Even if they left, where were they going to go? The food was out, the gas tanks were running on fumes. Daryl put another bolt through a walker.

She nocked another arrow, and drew, holding back as she lined up her sight with the walker's head. It wasn't a perfect shot, but it was sufficient - the walker tumbled to the ground.

"Let's go, let's go!" Shane yelled, finally pulling Rick away from the door. Daryl grabbed her arm, she grabbed Jada's hand, and they turned to run. They'd find gas, she and Daryl could go hunting, they'd make it to Fort Benning somehow. The dusky purple air was suddenly cut with blinding white. She had to squint to make out the others, all standing dumbly as the walkers staggered closer.

They weren't alone.

* * *

><p>She hadn't felt hot water in months. It felt hot enough to melt skin from bone, and she was quickly turning a nice lobster shade, but she didn't care. She sat crisscross on the floor, grinning as the water burnt away the dirt and the grime. This almost felt normal. Jenner had told them not to spend too long in the shower, but she'd had to break the rules - just a little. This was the first time she'd felt totally relaxed since Atlanta fell. Months of tension seeped from her muscles and swirled down the drain with the rest of the steaming water.<p>

A laugh bubbled up from somewhere in her chest. Just for a moment, she could forget.

It was a struggle, pulling herself up from the warm tiles to turn off the water. Immediately she could feel its absence, the chill in the air pushing the heat out through the vents. Everything felt loose, like she was made of rubber.

It was nice, just to be clean again.

The towels were soft and fluffy, not as warm as the shower, but better than the air conditioned room. She dried herself off, wrung her hair out with the towel, and wrapped it around herself so she wouldn't freeze before she got dressed. It was then, that she realized something was missing - her bag. The clothes she had been wearing were still on the floor - covered in dirt and blood - putting those back on just wasn't an option. She was just going to have to brave the freezing hallways with nothing but a towel.

A shiver wracked her body when she opened the door, clutching the towel tighter she started sprinting towards the kitchen - or kind of sprinting it was more of a fast pace shuffle so her towel wouldn't start to slip. That just wasn't something she needed. She'd left her and Jada's bags by the table, she just needed to get in, get out, and get dressed. Maybe dry her hair too, it hung in thick, dark strands, dripping water down her bare shoulders. God she was freezing.

Rounding the corner, she came to an abrupt halt when her face slammed into Daryl's chest. She struggled to pull the towel tighter as guilt turned her stomach to ice. He must have just come from his shower too, he was wearing a fresh sleeveless flannel and jeans. The hair was a couple shades darker, clinging to his face, and making his blue eyes all the brighter. They both blinked, Renee might have blushed if she weren't still pink from the water. Daryl just coughed, turning his eyes to the ground.

"Sorry," she mumbled, hurrying past. She still felt terrible every time she saw him.

"Sunshine, wait!" He called after her, and her feet dragged to a stop, "Where the hell you goin?"

"The kitchen," she said, turning back around to face him.

"Naked?" His brow furrowed, but a half smile turned his lips up.

"I'm not naked I have a towel," she shook the fabric down by her thigh, "Anyways, I forgot all my stuff in the kitchen, and it's cold as fuck out here."

He shook his head, and started towards her, "C'mon, I'll grab them for ya." He nodded in the direction of the kitchen and she followed. Every once in a while she'd glance up at him, why hadn't she told him? He'd probably noticed she was acting weird around him by now, ever since she and Shane came back she'd hardly been able to hold a conversation. She would give anything to stop feeling like such a shitty person. That was his brother out there, she was being selfish...Daryl needed to look for Merle more than she needed him.

A few minutes later he was back out of the kitchen, her and Jada's bags in hand. She thanked him and hurried off to get dressed. She needed to find Jada, get her in a bathtub sometime before dinner.

"Hey," she said softly, taking a seat next to Andrea. Jenner was cooking them dinner, everyone else was spread around the living area. Daryl had disappeared, so had Shane - though he was probably in the shower. The kids had retreated back to the rec room, now much cleaner.

"Hey," Andrea repeated in a hollow tone, she didn't look up. Renee held back a frown, it was hard to tell how her friend was doing. Sometimes she'd seem normal, maybe a bit more belligerent, but normal. Sometimes she'd be like this - not cold or mean, just...not there. It was to be expected, she'd just lost her sister, but still Renee wished there was something she could do - could say - that would make her feel better. It would take time.

"There's a ping-pong table in the rec-room." Renee kept her eyes on Andrea, and the blonde looked up, blinking slowly.

"What?" Andrea raised an eyebrow in confusion. Yeah, that had kind of come out of no where.

"Back at the quarry, you said you were really good at ping-pong. We could play." Renee smiled.

"You any good?"

"Absolutely not." Andrea gave a half hearted smile at that. Better than nothing.

"Maybe tomorrow." She shook her head, "I'm not really feeling like ping-pong right now." They fell into silence again, Renee couldn't tell if it was supposed to be a comfortable one. All around people were talking, Lori was resting on Rick's chest. It was like they were at some sort of houseparty, the lame kind with fancy cheeses and no music (or fancy cheese), but a houseparty nonetheless. It was normal, and relaxed, and happy - except for Andrea, all alone with her thoughts and the printed on wood grain of the table.

The door opened and everyone looked up briefly to see who had come in before returning to their conversations. She made eye contact with Daryl and quickly decided to go find Jada, it was almost dinner time.

When she was six or seven she'd had a sleepover with her best friend, Anna. Anna's house wasn't as nice as her own, it wasn't even a house exactly, but a double wide three bedroom trailer with porch attachment. They had a hot tub though, so she always liked to to go stay with her. In the living room, up on the mantel, there was this old mason jar filled to the brim with gold dollars. In her eyes, it was a literal treasure trove - just kept in an old spaghetti sauce container instead of a chest. Anna's family was always going on road trips - their grandma lived in San Antonio - so they were always coming back with stacks of Sacagawea dollars from rest stop vending machines to put in the jar. At that point they'd already started a second container.

The temptation was too much for a little kid. One day when Anna had gone off to the bathroom she snuck up onto the fireplace, grabbed a small handful and ran to shove them in her backpack. No one ever found out (except for the family's old ginger tabby), not even when her mom picked her up that evening, and she jingled all the way to the car.

For the next month she always had this crippling fear when Anna came to visit, her heart would beat faster and faster every time her best friend came anywhere near the dresser where she'd stashed the coins. After a near brush with Anna and a sock drawer she threw all the dollars into her backpack, walked to a convenience store down the street from her school, and bought eight Snickers bars. She'd eaten them all right there in the parking lot, and thrown up on the side of the road walking back home.

She could get rid of coins, that constant reminder that she'd done something wrong. She couldn't exactly trade in Daryl Dixon for Snickers.

"Hey guys, what'cha up to?" She asked as she closed the rec-room door behind her. She didn't get a response, or even see a kid for that matter. For a brief moment she had a miniature heart attack before she notice the poof of Jada's hair peeking out from behind a couch. They were just playing hide and seek - Renee was really starting to hate that game.

The door to the bathroom opened and Sophia slinked out, "Have you seen Carl or Jada?"

Renee glanced around the room, a pair of sneakers were sticking out from under a pile of pillows in the corner. "Nope," she smiled, "But when you find them, could you tell them dinner's almost ready?" Sophia nodded, "Thanks." Renee smiled and shut the door.

She still had ten minutes before dinner, that would be ten minutes of awkwardly avoiding conversation with Daryl. She decided she'd rather go sit in her room for a while.

* * *

><p>Dinner had included more booze than she's expected. She'd drank more booze than she'd expected. Apparently she'd missed booze more than she'd expected. Most people turned out to be happy drunks, Glenn turning bright red and giggling uncontrollably, others had been quiet and pensive (i.e. Andrea). Then there'd been Shane, the bummer. Things got kind of quiet after he started bringing up things that weren't the past. He started asking about now, and now wasn't exactly a fun topic.<p>

Carl, Sophia, and Jada had decided to have a sleepover in a room adjoining to Rick and Lori's. So after the mood had been pretty effectively killed Lori took them off to bed, Rick followed. Shane had disappeared pretty soon after he stopped asking Jenner questions. Andrea had run out looking sick, Dale hurried after her. Jaqui helped T-Dog back to his room. Glenn had stumbled off on his own - she was pretty sure she'd a heard a thump a few seconds after he'd closed the door, he might not have made it all that far.

Now it was just her and Daryl, and she was too drunk to care.

They'd moved from the table to the couch. Wine glasses had been traded for a bottle of hard liquor, she was laid out over his lap looking up at him with a hazy smile. Such pretty blue eyes. She reached for the bottle like a child reached for its sippy cup, mumbling about wanting another damn drink.

"Uh uh, cutting you off, Red." He held the bottle up higher, and she slurred curses at him while he took a swig himself before setting it on the wooden arm rest. "C'mon." A strong arm snaked around her waist and the world spun as he pulled her into a sitting position - knees bent over his legs, his arm around her, her head easily falling into the crook of his neck. "Don't need you puking yourself to death. If you're gonna lay down tonight, make sure it's on your side."

He was drunk too, otherwise he wouldn't be holding her like this, not of his own free will - not without looking like a frightened cat. Wasn't as drunk as her though, no siree-bob. She nestled closer to him, nose practically pressed to his throat. He smelled good - like soap, and cigarette smoke, and fresh Georgia pines - or maybe that was the soap too...she didn't care. His thumb was tracing circles on her side.

She could sleep like this. Her neck would hurt like hell in the morning, but with how much she'd drunk so would everything else. He shifted around her and grabbed the bottle again, taking a long swig.

"Me and Merle used to drink this stuff all the time," he spoke lazily, the drink blurring the vowels together even more than his accent already did. Quite suddenly her heart started beating funny, and part of her wanted to run out of the room - the other part wanted to run to a garbage can. So much for alcohol making you forget. "He was real mean on this stuff. He was always a mean drunk, but this shit?" He whistled, "The devil 'imself would piss his pants."

"What happened when you drank it?" Her voice hitched.

He laughed, his chest rumbling against hers. She was starting to get even more nauseous."You think I'd remember, Sunshine?"

"If Merle gets his hand on a bottle of this? Wooee, them walkers better start run-"

She couldn't take this anymore, "I found the van!"

The silence was cacophonous.

"What did you just say?" His voice was almost a whisper. So, so loud. "Renee, what the hell did you just say?!" He snapped, gripping her shoulders and yanking her around to face him. His eyes didn't look so pretty anymore, they were smoke and fire.

"The van...the van that Merle took. M-me, m-m-me and...and Shane. We found it."

Daryl took a deep, deep breath.

"Were you plannin' on tellin' me that?" he growled.

"No." She'd always been far too honest when she was drunk. Daryl jumped up and Renee toppled to the ground as he paced away, her head spun as he did, whirling about on her with a snarl.

"What? This some plan you and Shane hatched up?"

"No. He said...said...said you'd follow - couldn't have -" She broke off, train of thought gone.

"Follow? Follow what? Was there a trail?" She didn't respond, "Renee! Was there a trail?!"

She nodded, world bobbing up and down, and up and down, "Lotta blood. Lotta footprints - outta the blue into the blue - too many footprints…"

"The hell you mean too many footprints?" He asked slowly letting out a rasping breath. He couldn't stay still, agitatedly jerking this way and that.

She met his eyes for a long time, his face started to screw up and he looked like he was gonna cry. If he was gonna cry she was gonna cry, tears hot in her eyes, "Daryl…"

He took a deep breath, "Is he dead?" It was quiet. Silence like the ocean in her ears, the whole world just one damn big seashell.

"Daryl…" Her voice cracked.

He lunged forward, one hand pulling her wrist into a vice grip, the other grabbing the hair at the base of her skull he yanked her up to him, "Is he dead?!" He roared, breath hot with liquor.

And she shrieked, "I don't know!" Tears spilled over, and suddenly the silence was silent. The world had gotten very still. He dropped her and staggered back, blue eyes on a bright red wrist. She was shaking, trying to hold back a sob. She didn't want him to see her cry. He was shaking too, breaths coming quick and hard. She had fucked up, she'd known she'd fucked up from the start, but she'd never thought she'd be scared of Daryl Dixon.

He turned and practically ran through an already open door. Lori stood there in an oversized button down, eyes red and cheeks puffy from tears that had been shed before. From the look on the other woman's face Renee knew she'd seen, she wasn't sure how much, but Lori had seen. The door closed softly as Renee desperately tried to bite back another cry, it didn't quite work, a high pitched whine eeking through instead. Fabric rustled as Lori slid to the floor next to her. Renee threw her arms around her neck and sobbed, snot and tears and spit staining the button down.

A hand went up to her red hair, and Renee cried harder, her mother had used to do that. "Shhh, shhh." Lori pressed her face into Renee's hair, and just let her cry.

After a while when he throat was raw and her eyes couldn't stay open without burning, the sobs began to die down. She hiccuped into Lori's now soaked shoulder. "You're a good mom, you know that?" Renee's voice wavered.

Lori gave a soft, sad laugh. "Do you want to talk?"

Renee shook her head, "Not now. Sleep...I wanna sleep."

Lori smiled into her hair, "Alright," she sighed, "Let's get you up."

* * *

><p>The anger had dissipated the moment he'd seen the look in her eyes. He'd fucked up, he knew he'd fucked up, fucked up real bad. He let out a shaky breath, mouth forcing itself into a frown. He was trembling, and as much as wanted to believe it was just the cold water pelting on his back, he knew it wasn't. He'd scared her...he'd scared himself. Apparently he could be just as mean a drunk as Merle when he wanted to be.<p>

Just as mean as _him._

There were too many ghosts with him that night as he staggered back to his room. His throat tightened as it hit him just how close he'd been to being his old man. This wasn't Shane or Rick. This wasn't some jackass with an ego and a uniform...this was Renee. She was different.

She'd been wrong, real wrong. He couldn't help but feel a twist in his chest, when he thought about what she'd said - what she hadn't said. She'd made a mistake, and he knew she'd known that long before he'd…

She'd been sorry. He'd been out of line. It suddenly made sense, the way she'd been acting since she and Shane had come back…. He yelled into his pillow, not bothering to put on clothes before he laid down.

He didn't sleep that night.

* * *

><p>The headache he had the next morning was splitting. Apparently everyone else had one too. It was a quiet breakfast, only T-Dog really seemed awake as he served out powdered eggs. Renee hadn't shown up yet. The kids were there, they'd only shut up after more than one adult had snapped at them for screaming. His eyes kept flicking over to Jada, at least she and Renee hadn't slept in the same room last night.<p>

Lori kept looking at him warily. She had every right to, she'd seen what he'd done. He wasn't any better than his brother, and they'd all been scared of him too.

The door opened and he stiffened, eyes shooting up. Two people walked in side by side, and he guiltily pushed down the anger. Shane had scratches down his neck, but it was the hand shaped bruise on Renee's arm that caught his eye. He took a slow deep breath as her gaze met his, and her hand self consciously went to the ugly purple mark.

He wouldn't blame her if she didn't forgive him for this. Hell, he knew he wasn't going to.

**Well...the chapter started out sweet. It's one thirty five as of now, I'll finish editing this in the morning. I kinda wonder how soon they would have gotten together if that hadn't happened. Season one Daryl didn't have control over his temper like current Daryl does, and even then season four Daryl lost his cool with Beth when he was drunk, so I wanted to play into that. However, it's going to affect the relationship - they both feel guilty and scared right now, so it's probably going to take some time to smooth things out. **

**Bit of a heavy chapter, especially at the end, but I hope you guys liked it. I'll update soon. **


	10. Life Choices

**Yay tenth chapter! This thing is almost 100 pages long now (98 technically). Had been hoping to post this this morning, but accidently slept in and had to rush out the door to drive two hours to a college tour haha so here it is now twelve hours later. The college I visited is about half an hour away from my grandma and a couple aunts/uncles and cousins so I stopped and visited some family. That was nice. Brought my laptop along hoping to write in the car, but that just didn't happen. **

**Thank you to everyone who has favorited and followed this story. Special thanks to sillygabby, las131984 (I've memorized the numbers in your username now), Starcrier, Black Roses Wilt, and redangel2463 (oh woop, got your numbers too) for the reviews! **

**Chapter 10 - Life Choices**

Part of her wanted to take up Lori on that offer to talk. Part of her wanted to forget that last night had ever happened. She was almost grateful for the hangover, between the headache and the nausea she couldn't feel her arm. It was just a bruise, not even a deep one, looked worse than it was. It was still a painful reminder. Dale had noticed it in the hallway this morning, it wasn't like she could lie - the fingers were clearly outlined - but she could do exactly as she had when it came to Merle, not tell the truth. She'd just shook her head and gone off to the kitchen.

Shane was another ill reminder, none of this would have happened if she hadn't listened to him. He'd had good intentions, good reasoning even, wasn't his fault that Renee couldn't keep her trap shut. Whatever the reasons he'd given her though, it wasn't the same, Rick had been a different situation. There was nothing he could've done for him, but she could've told Daryl. She should've told Daryl - before, back when they could've done something about it.

Shane nodded to her as they turned the corner together, he looked a little worse for wear too. Two red scratches tracing down his neck.

The kitchen was quiet, any conversation kept to whispers and non-committal grunts. She swallowed heavily when she saw Daryl - when he saw her. His eyes flicked between hers and the mark he'd left on her arm, and she brought a hand up to cover it. She just wanted coffee right now. Lori pulled out a seat next to her, and she quickly took it, keeping her eyes on the plate of eggs.

Every time one of the kids giggled her headed started pounding again. She could feel Daryl's eyes burning holes in her skin, but she didn't want to look up to see if he was still angry. Instead she poked at the breakfast - apparently the eggs had been powdered, she didn't even know that was a thing. The texture looked all weird though. Her stomach roiled and she shoved the plate away.

Waking up had been a mistake. It was too early, and her head hurt too much, and everytime she thought about Daryl it just got that much worse.

"Renee will you play tag with us?" Jada asked just a little too loudly, the other kids giggled.

"Not right now," she groaned, standing up. She needed to go back to bed, "Maybe later."

"Renee?" Lori called as she headed for the door, "Where are you going? You need to eat."

"I think I'm going to go throw up," she grumbled.

"Damn, and I thought my cooking was good," She heard T-Dog laugh as she turned into the hall, and slunk back to her room. She was going to stay there for a while.

* * *

><p>Daryl watched her go, wondered if he should go with her. Instead he half heartedly picked at his eggs - maybe she had the right of it, they tasted like shit. Food was food though, and they'd been running low on that for a few days. His thoughts came back to Merle. She'd said they'd found a trail - he could pick it back up again, find him...he didn't want to believe Merle was dead. Renee had said she didn't know, there was still a chance. She hadn't exactly been clear last night, if he could talk to her, find out what she'd seen. Or better yet go back to the van himself.<p>

He had a feeling she didn't want to talk to him though.

His lip curled when his eyes found Shane over by the coffee maker. He forced himself to take a deep breath. He needed to cool it. Wasn't going to make it easier to find Merle by pissing off everyone who could help him. Cleaning off the last bite of eggs he left his plate and stood. Renee could have her space, she needed it right now, but Daryl didn't give two fucks whether Shane had a nice morning or not.

He sucked on his teeth, leaning up against the wall next to him, "Renee told me about the van."

"So that's where that bruise came from," A smug grin pulled at his lips, "you know I expected that from Merle-"

Daryl's fist clenched and he had to try his hardest not to punch him, "Yeah, and you got scratched by a cat." That shut him up pretty quick. Daryl let out a heavy breath, running his face through his hands, "Look, I need to know where that van is."

"No. Ain't gonna happen, Daryl," Shane said, pouring himself a mug of freshly brewed coffee.

"Why the hell not?"

"I don't know what there is, or was, between you and Renee. That don't change the fact that you're responsible for her," Shane took a sip, meeting his eyes, "Taught the girl to look at some leaves in the dirt and shoot sticks, and now she practically thinks she's rambo. Ran off to track Merle on her own, and the way she was shootin' last night...she was lucky whoever got your brother didn't show up."

"Whad'ya mean who?"

"She said that he fell. Bunch of foot prints came out of no where and then there was no more trail to follow. Didn't know what to make of it, thought walkers were followin the road. Now I think it was someone with a car, but I didn't tell her that, cause the more likely it was that he was dead, the less likely she'd tell you. You can't go runnin off without her, not now."

Daryl took a deep breath, he had a point. Renee had hardly been able to get an arrow in a walker the other night. She was a damn near perfect shot when she wasn't thinking, but the moment her brain started going into overdrive she'd miss the broad side of the barn. That didn't mean she'd keel over if he went to find Merle, after last night she might be happy if he checked out.

"Look, I don't trust that doctor. Rick doesn't see it, but you and I both know there's something off here. I got a feeling we ain't going to be staying much longer, and if you disappear… it's gonna come down to a night when we're low on food. She's gonna wanna go hunting, she's gonna wanna go on a run, she won't have you teaching her how to use that bow anymore. She's gonna miss, and she's gonna end up dead in a ditch...or worse. You hear me?

"Now I know we don't get along all that well Daryl. But I think we can both agree we don't want Renee dead. Maybe I shouldn't have interfered the way I did, but I was just trying to look out for her. For that little girl she's got. Lori and Carl have me and Rick looking out for them, Andrea and Glenn've got Dale. Renee has you. Don't let her down."

With that Shane took his coffee and went to sit down.

* * *

><p>She hadn't been able to sleep, the buzz of fluorescent lights was too loud. She'd turn them off if she had the willpower to get off the bed. With a groan she rolled onto her back and eyed the pistol on the bedside table, maybe if she shot them...Nah, that would be too loud too. She closed her eyes, her head felt like it was under a ton a rocks.<p>

Just like that the buzzing stopped. She opened her eyes, and didn't see a thing. The power had gone out. As much as she was grateful for the darkness, if there was anything that she had learned over the past month - the dark didn't bode well. Ignoring the stones on her head in favor of the ice in her chest, she set one foot then the other on the floor, and felt her way to the door.

Even from in her room she could hear them yelling.

Emergency lights left the hallway in a dim glow, shadows creeping up the walls. Rick, Shane, and T-Dog ran past in the adjoining hallway, it was like watching Scooby Doo except they didn't comically burst through the door on her left. She stood still, waiting for the monster to shamble up behind them, but it never came. Monster or no, something was wrong. She stumbled back through the room, clipped the knife to her belt, put the quiver over her back and bow over her shoulder.

With that she jogged after them.

The sound of an argument grew louder as she turned the corner into the control room. Practically everyone was around Jenner, some were yelling, some were quiet, Carol clutched Sophia looking like she was about to cry. Renee's heart stopped.

"The building automatically shuts down non-vital functions." Jenner's words were hardly more than background noise, "The computers need to be kept running until the last second."

"What happens then?" Rick asked, voice dangerously low.

"The French were the last to go -" Jenner didn't answer the question. Renee wasn't listening anyway. She kept scanning over the faces. Dale, Glenn, Andrea, Jaqui, Rick, Lori, Carl, Carol, Sophia, T-Dog, Shane...Daryl. Where was Jada? Fingers were inching towards triggers, voices were raised, lights brought down low. In all of that, it would have been so easy to miss a little girl.

The automated voice of the computer echoed oddly over the metal surfaces of the control room, such a cheerful tone to define death in.

"It'll be quick," Jenner assured them. Renee glanced at the entry to the hallways, just at the end of the hall - a little girl with a one armed bear.

"Jada!" She yelled, running back up the ramp as the door closed, "Jada!"

"Painless," Jenner continued.

"Renee!" The little girl was running too, but the door was falling faster. It closed with an all too final thud, and she slid to her knees - Jada was gone, all she could see was her own warped reflection.

"You won't even know it's happened."

She whirled about, ignoring the pain in her head, the bruise on her arm. The ice in her chest melted away as she flew down the catwalk, "Open the door!" She could hear Jada crying on the other side, "Open it!"

"There's no point. Everything's on lockdown, whether I open the door or not -"

"There's a little girl out there!"

"You won't be able to leave." Jenner wasn't listening. Everything outside of that head of his wasn't worth his time anymore, was it? She wanted to scream. Jada was crying. Daryl and Shane were beating at the door with axes. The sharp crash of metal on metal was hollow in the cavernous room. "It's pointless!" He called out them, "That door was built to withstand missiles."

Daryl lowered the axe, breathing heavily he turned to stare at Jenner. Before anyone could even respond Daryl was stalking back to the control room floor, he flipped the axe grip in his hand. Shane was the first to realize what he was about to do, dropping his own axe to sprint after the other man. For a second Renee thought it was to stop him, but next thing she knew, Shane was going for a gun.

"Well, your head ain't!" Daryl yelled, raising the axe to swing at Jenner. T-Dog, Rick, and Dale were on him in seconds, ripping the axe from his hands. Shane was talked down a few seconds later. Apparently they were all going to die, didn't need to get all bloody killing Jenner, he was more than willing to do it himself. If there was any hope though, any chance the door would open and she'd see Jada again. Jenner was it.

There was a strangled sob from the floor behind her, "My girl, she doesn't deserve to die like this." Carol had Sophia wrapped in her arms, Sophia was crying too, face buried in her mother's shoulder.

"Does she deserve to _live _like that?" Jenner pointed towards the door, "Does anyone? There isn't a world out there for her, it's all gone. Wouldn't this be kinder?" What did he mean it was all gone? "When that clock hits zero, you don't have to worry about it anymore. You don't have to live, to survive. Your daughter won't suffer."

"That isn't your choice to make!" Renee met Daryl's eyes, just for a second, "You don't get to choose who lives and who dies! If you're so damn sure we're all gonna kick the fucking bucket, why did you let us in? We don't deserve to die, you knew that! We deserve a chance!"

Other voices added in, Renee tried to get her breath to even out. Tiny fists were banging on the door outside, Jada hadn't stopped crying. She looked up at Jenner, "Please."

The weight on her chest was lifted with the door, "Renee!" Jada sobbed, sprinting towards her, and she swept the child into her arms, gently cradling her head in her hand. She stroked Jada's hair as the sobs quieted against her shoulder.

"Thank you," Rick said. The clock was at four minutes. There wasn't time to go back for their things. Clothes could be replaced, another copy of Narnia could be found - they wouldn't get to come back to life. At least not in a good way.

She was a few feet out the door when Jada let out a cry, "Franklin!"

Renee slid to a halt, the bear was at the foot of the catwalk, down near the control center. She glanced back down the hall, the others were starting to distance themselves, "Lori!" She called, "Lori! Please, take her!" She handed off the little girl into Lori's arms.

"Renee, what are you doing?" Lori called, but she didn't respond hair flying behind her as she sprinted down the catwalk.

This would be the second time she risked her life for that damn bear.

* * *

><p>He let others pass, craning his neck for a familiar flash of red hair. Where was she? Lori was coming up near the end, Carl's hand in her's, Jada pressed into her side. She wasn't there. Jaqui had decided to stay, he glanced at the dark entrance to the control room. Renee hadn't, had she? He reached a hand out to stop Lori.<p>

"Where is she?" He asked, looking towards the door again. Why the hell had she gone back?

Lori looked back at the door, "She went back. I-I don't know why -" Daryl cursed, pushing past her and running for the control room. He'd already fucked up enough where Renee was concerned, he'd be damned if he let her die too. Girl hadn't given him a choice when it came to Merle, if he had to he'd pick her up and drag her out.

"Renee!" He barked, standing in the door. She was down there, watching Dale and Andrea with a defeated expression, Jada's teddy bear dangled from her hand. It suddenly hit him she hadn't gone back to die, the girl had gone back for a fucking bear. If they got out of this alive, he was gonna kill her.

He was down the catwalk in seconds, "C'mon," he growled, looping his arm around her waist.

"No!" She snapped, voice cracking. He loosened his hold, arm still cradled around her midsection. "Dale...please." They needed to go, he held back another snarl, shifting impatiently. That clock was running down fast.

"I'm not going unless she goes." Dale said, holding up his hands, and then jerkily folding them back across his chest.

"Dale…" Andrea sounded tired.

"Dale you're not helpi -" Renee sounded like she was about to start crying. He glanced at the clock. They had just under three minutes.

"It's his choice. He wants to die for his righteous bullshit, let him." Daryl spoke softly in her ear, though all he wanted to do was yell, "We need to go. Now." He tightened his grip and pulled her back, she struggled at first, but pretty soon he had pushed her in front and they were running. That dumb ass teddy bear flopping back and forth. He held back a bitter laugh, nearly gotten herself killed for a bear.

* * *

><p>The scent of smoke lingered heavily in the air. Her ears were still ringing from the blast, her head still pounded from her hangover. At least the kids had stopped crying. They all sat on the curb in front of the RV, staring at the cream colored metal instead of the blackened building and the piled up corpses. Jada had Franklin clutched to her chest, Sophia held her doll, Carl just kept glancing up at Shane.<p>

Dale and Andrea had come out after all. Still, that was three people in as many days. Amy, Jim, Jaqui. She shut her eyes tight and tried not to think about it, her head hurt too much to cry right now.

Jenner had said something, the world was gone...the French were the last ones to lose power. The fact that no one was coming to save them didn't hit her as hard as she'd thought it would. She'd been expecting a mactruck, it was more like prius - quiet and roomy. There was this odd hollow feeling as she tried to grasp the concept she'd so wholeheartedly been denying since day one.

She'd seen the national guard die in Atlanta, she'd watched the city burn. Yet she kept dreaming of beaches and happy reunions, dance recitals, and a future that didn't smell like rot and death. It didn't matter if her family was alive, it didn't matter if they were happy. She was never going to see them again. She'd never tease her brother again, never lean over a car engine with dad, or lay on mom's shoulder while she stroked her hair.

It was time to let go.

"We're going to need to leave a couple cars," Rick said, "Siphon their gas, redistribute it among the ones we take." Everyone nodded, silently agreeing. They needed to leave, fast. The blast had been huge, every walker in the city would be headed this way - and they barely had the fuel to get half a mile.

"We can leave the Camaro," she said quietly. The old thing took up too much gas anyways. "Me and Jada can just ride in the RV."

"Thank you," Rick said with a nod. Just like that.

"What are we gonna do now?" Shane asked. Glancing between the men, "If we can scrounge up some gas, some food, we can make it out of the city - get up to Fort Benning."

"Why?" Renee asked, and they turned to look at her. "You heard Jenner, there's nothing left - there's got to be something closer, something like the quarry."

"Just cause the government fell doesn't mean the soldiers will be gone." Rick reasoned. "They had weapons, ammo, food. It's worth a shot."

"So was the CDC," she said, gesturing to the burnt rubble, "Look where that got us."

"I don't think you can blame, Rick -" Lori started.

"I'm not...I just, its a hundred and twenty miles. Is that going to be worth it, for a...for a shot?" They'd already lost so many people. They'd come so close to losing more today. The past was in the past, this was now. She had Jada and Lori, Andrea and Dale, Shane, Glenn...Daryl. Ever since this had started she had been dreaming that her family was happy on a beach somewhere. She was awake now. She knew that she couldn't guarantee her family, _this_ family, would be happy. Couldn't guarantee they'd live, or survive, couldn't guarantee anything these days.

But she had to try.

**Well that was chapter 10! We're done with season one now! We won't jump straight into season two, there'll be a bit of an interlude going over some deleted scenes, some scenes of my own making etc… So we have a couple more chapters before we'll make it season two. I really hope you guys enjoyed, and I hope to hear back from you all :) **

**See ya soon!**


	11. Sober Moments

**I'm getting real close to that 50,000 word mark. Once I get there I'll have reach my NaNo goal! I'll make sure updates stay at least weekly after that, but I'm gonna need to start focusing on college apps and SAT subject tests until January. After that I'll be able to pick back up the pace on chapter updates since second semester is going to be really easy without all the college stuff to worry about.**

**We're getting into our between season chapters, this one at least will follow some deleted scenes that sillygabby mentioned to me. They fit in well with the plot and some of the themes I've been trying to bring in so I'm excited to write this chapter. Not sure if this will be the only interlude chapter or if we'll have a second. Might have a mix between pre-season 2 and season 2 premiere in one chapter? Eh, I'll figure it out. **

**Anyways thanks to everyone who has followed and favorited this story. Special thanks to redangel2463, las131984, Starcrier, sillygabby, Filliafamillas, and Black Roses Wilt for the reviews! **

**Chapter 11 - Sober Moments**

There were a lot of people crammed into that RV, which wouldn't have been that bad if it was easy to run down to the store and pick up half a dozen sticks of deodorant. Sadly theirs had been burned at the CDC two days ago, and the dead were particularly fond of CVS. It wasn't a necessity, why use deodorant when you can open the windows and smell the fresh bodies? There were days when she hated the end of the world more than normal. This was one of them.

The Grimes family (plus Shane) was up at the booth, Dale was driving, Glenn and T-Dog were standing in the hall. At least she and Jada had the bed all to themselves for a while. Everyone had been staying the night in the RV, it was safer, suffocating, but safer. Her little girl was drifting off to sleep, arms loosely wrapped around Franklin, a little bit of drool dribbling out the corner of her mouth. Renee smiled, maybe she would take a nap too. Her eyes were starting to feel heavy, and her body still ached from that hangover.

It wasn't like they were doing much. Just driving street to street through Atlanta, looking for any place they could stop to get some gas without getting themselves killed. The walkers were everywhere around here, drawn in by the explosion at the CDC. They were going to have to stop soon though, whether they liked it or not, they just weren't going to get far enough away from the blast zone with how much fuel they had. It might have been easier if their was a straight away out of Atlanta from here, but everything was blocked off - it would take hours of winding round and round just to hit empty on the outskirts.

A bit of breeze came through to the back and she grimaced as the wave of B.O. hit her. Andrea had had the good sense, or maybe just the anger with Dale, to ride in the Cherokee with Carol. There would have been room for her and Jada - not that the hygiene situation would have been much better in there. Daryl's truck wouldn't have been half bad, but he hadn't spoken to her since he practically dragged her from the CDC. She still didn't think he'd completely forgiven her, apparently didn't hate her or anything, but she figured she'd give him his space...wait for his temper to even out again.

"We're going to stop here!" Dale called back from the driver's seat. Jada slumped to the side a bit as they rolled to a stop.

"That a good idea?" Rick asked. There were more than a few walkers up and down the street, a couple were hunched over what she decided to pretend wasn't a dead body.

"Doubt it," Dale said, "but we don't have that many options."

Kissing a sleeping Jada on the forehead Renee got up to listen to the plan. A couple people were going to stay with the Caravan to guard the kids and their stuff. Shane, Glenn, T-Dog and Renee would start combing the street. Shane and T-Dog were looking for gas, Glenn and Renee for food. They weren't to go farther than two blocks in either direction, and no turning down other roads. She shouldered an empty duffle bag, her quiver, and her bow. For a second she thought about trying to wake Jada, tell her where she was going, but decided against it. That kid could sleep like a rock, there just wouldn't be much of a point.

It was sweltering outside, like fry an egg on the pavement hot. It was amazing, of all the summers for the world to end it had to be the one with a hundred degree heat and good old Georgian humidity. It was a miracle that what deodorant they'd had had worked at all. She could live with normal body odor though, it was the rotting body odor that started to get to her. Half a block away to her left a walker had impaled itself on the rebar in a construction site. That was good enough reason to turn right.

Two mostly cleaned out convenience stores, and half a walker later she had pretty much nothing. Four small cans of Chef Boyardee, two bags of chips, four spicy slim jims, and some Reeses cups that were almost certainly melted. So far they'd been lucky with walkers, the ones hanging around this neighborhood must have all made their way to the CDC by now. Save for a few that were already preoccupied with lunch, the only ones left were the ones who couldn't leave. A couple torsos, one with two severely broken legs, another hung from a window washer's cart a few floors up (it's leg had been caught on a cable.)

Glenn was working along the other side of the street, they'd decided to split up but stay close. Just in case.

Daryl hadn't looked all that happy when she left. She'd thought about going to talk to him, maybe….she didn't know….but his general overcast demeanour was obviously still leaning towards stormy. It would probably be best to avoid him for now, let him cool off...let her get her bearings again.

The next store on her side of the street was a laundromat, followed by a dog groomer, but a CVS came up after that. It had obviously been looted, the front windows broken in, half the display case dragged out on the street (a crab shaped swimming pool, and a sadly deflated innertube). Nocking an arrow she stepped over the glass and the debris, and up into the store. It was dark towards the back, but the front was perfectly visible - blood stains and all. Up at the registers a clerk was slumped over the counter, half his skull gone. A couple customers had met the same fate, sprawled across the floor.

It was hard to look at, but the smell was worse. The Georgian heat hadn't left any room for fresh air in this city. Trying her hardest not to gag she held her bow at ready and started to slink towards the register. Three half melted Snickers bars, four boxes of tic tacs, a peppermint patty, and a Milky Way. Her heart beat a little faster at the thought of going into the aisles. Half of them had been knocked down, the dim sunlight didn't quite reach past the open area at the front.

She had to try though, they weren't going to be able to live off candy. Food wasn't exactly CVS's specialty though, it was a pharmacy - there would be meds...she just had to get to the back. With a not too deep breath, she picked her way around a half decomposed woman, and into one of the still standing aisles. It got dark very quickly, every shadow was a walker, every shelf that caught her duffle bag was a hand reaching out.

Greeting cards, make up, cleaning supplies, she paused at the feminine hygiene section - dumping a few boxes of tampons into the bag. Deodorant came next, and lots of it - things were getting out of hand. She could smell herself every time she lifted her arms or twisted to get something, and standing next to one of the guys in the RV was like getting hit with a truck. The world had ended, but as long as Old Spice was on the shelves, they'd better damn well use it.

The food and drinks had pretty much been cleared out, though she found a few bottles of water that had been forgotten. A couple bottles of tylenol and motrin had been left behind too. It was hard to see everything, squinting at shapes in the dark. So far it was quiet though, which was good. Walkers hadn't exactly learned the art of stealth, they gurgled and groaned, and stumbled over their own feet. As long as it was quiet, she'd be okay.

"Alright," she muttered to herself. CVS always put the pharmacy part in the back, she remembered that much from all the times she'd gone to pick up prescriptions with her mom. Wasn't something she'd ever gotten to do herself, through most of college she avoided the doctor - her immune system had always been strong, so it wasn't like she needed it. She'd hated the pharmacy as a child though, it felt like hours and hours of sitting. Fluorescent lights and old people.

A frown pulled at her lips, and she put it from her mind. She needed to focus. Arrow ready to draw she emerged from aisles into the darkness of the pharmacy waiting area. Apparently the old ladies who were always chatting at the pharmacy died there. One was "alive", a dark form wriggling and growling from under a fallen shelf. With a grimace she pulled her knife and put it through the thing's skull.

It was quiet.

The door into the pharmacy would be locked, but the counter was always a viable option. She struggled up and over, cursing her short legs (and short everything else), and thudded unceremoniously onto the other side. She should have brought a flashlight, but there was no way in hell she was going all the way back now.

There wasn't enough light to read the labels on what few bottles were left - apparently someone else had had the same idea - so she just knocked whatever she could find into the duffle. She figured the way things were now just about anything could happen. No vaccines, no doctors, and a great wide world of scary stuff with no one left to police it. They might as well be prepared.

There were just a few more bottles, up on the very top shelf. Setting her bow on the counter, she gripped the metal sides and started climbing. This is where being a few inches taller would have really come in handy. Almost...she reached her left hand up….there….if she could just get a little farther. Her fingers tapped against the steel, she knew it was close. Sighing she stepped up another shelf, the structure rattled a little, but stayed steady.

Something groaned in the dark as her hand closed around the bottle, and with a sudden jolt she was falling. A shriek was half lost in the clang of metal shelves. The air left her lungs, and she waited - ears ringing, left arm and half her chest pinned to the floor. The darkness was pressing, pushing in and weighing down. She couldn't see, but she could hear all too well. The sound of bottles skittering across the floor, the grinding moan of the next shelf over beginning to slip, and the hungry groans of something just above her face.

She screamed as hands traced over her shoulder. It was reaching through the fallen shelf, too stupid to realize it could move a bit to the right and grab her other side. Her free hand slowly moved to her waist, if she could get her knife. If it didn't make any noise...then what? She couldn't see, could hardly move - even if she lured the walker into her reach it wasn't just going to fall on her knife. Somehow, (she knew exactly how, and it had to do with some poor decision making skills), she'd managed to dig herself into a shit hole so deep MacGyver himself couldn't get out. At least not alone.

She screamed again.

The thing got more agitated each time she yelled, slavering and straining, the shelf pushed down farther and the fingers began to grab at her shirt. Glenn couldn't be far, he had to hear her. She screamed and screamed, bringing down her hand to her belt, sliding out her knife.

"Renee?" A familiar voice yelled from the other end of CVS.

"Glenn! Glenn I'm in the back!"

"Are you okay?" He called, footsteps were weaving through the aisles.

"What the hell do you think?!" She snapped, trying not to breath as something wet landed on her chest with a fat plop. He was hopping the counter now, light flashed and she saw the thing above her. The heat had done a number on it, and a botched head shot left blood and goo dripping from a half destroyed jaw. Then the light moved and it was just noise and heavy breaths again.

"Hey!" Glenn raised his bat, the walker raised it's head, and with a wet thwack it fell.

They shoved together, her arm screaming out as the pressure was finally lifted. _There better be some painkillers in that bag, _she thought as she struggled to her her feet. Warm hands pushed her up, and guided her to the counter. It wasn't broken - at least she didn't think it was. She'd broken her arm once before, she was ten, her brother had pushed her off a swing set. It wasn't a bad break but it had hurt like a bitch, she'd cried, he'd held her and said he was sorry over and over. One or two pleas not to tell mom had been thrown in.

A strained laugh pushed out from her chest as Glenn helped her over the counter. He'd tried to tape it up himself - hoped it would get better on its own and they wouldn't have to tell mom.

"You doing okay?" Glenn asked as he helped her down the other side.

"Yep," she breathed out, swinging bow and quiver and bag up onto her shoulders. It hurt, but she was just going to tape it up herself and hope it got better on its own, 'cause she couldn't tell mom anymore. It probably wasn't all that bad anyways, she'd walk it off. "Let's just get out of here."

Glenn lead the way to the front, flashlight scanning the floor for trapped walkers. The cool gray glow of sun through windows had never been a more welcome sight. She'd done some stupid shit in her life, some stupid shit since the world ended, but that might have taken the cake though. All those days out in the woods, she'd fucked up a couple times. Once she'd gotten so caught up in a trail she forgot to look where she was going. Daryl had been a ways back taking a piss when suddenly the ground just wasn't under her feet anymore. By the time he found her, attempting to catch her breath at the bottom of a small gorge, he was mildly pissed. Cursed her out while she pulled herself to her feet, and gave her shit the whole way back to the top.

He'd have a field day if he knew what she'd just done.

Glenn was pulling his stuff together when she noticed something up on the counter. Maps. Shoving one into her bag she hobbled after Glenn. It was time to head back to the group.

* * *

><p>No one had been looking all that good since the CDC, but Renee looked like absolute shit when she finally got back. He watched her with a frown, crossbow ready as she stiffly took out a couple walkers with Glenn. She wasn't dying so it wasn't his problem….still couldn't get rid of that nagging feeling that he should have gone with her. He shook his head and sighed. Shane was right, he wasn't sure what she'd done to bang herself up, but he was willing to bet money that she'd decided to play Rambo again.<p>

Shane had better get back with the gas soon. T-Dog had already brought half a tank in, but it wasn't gonna split between three cars. He was getting real tired of sleeping in the RV, just wanted to get somewhere where he wouldn't be crammed up against ten other people and Renee to boot. Glenn had practically grabbed his ass last night, he'd decided that was a good time to relieve Dale of watch duty.

It was hot out, and even hotter standing in the bed of his truck. Shane should have been back by now.

"Hey," a soft voice said behind him, and he stiffened, "Can I come up?"

He nodded.

Renee stifled a groan as she pulled herself into the truck, his lips tightened. A couple seconds later she was sitting on top of the cab, facing him, "Here," paper fluttered, and she held something out to him, "It's a map. Marked out how to get from here to the van...it's not much, but…" she looked up at him, "I'm sorry. I should have told you. It's just Shane started talking and I was...I was afraid you'd leave, and you'd get hurt, and you wouldn't come back. I was being selfish, and I'm sorry."

He relaxed a bit as he watched her, lowering his crossbow so he could face her. His eyes kept finding that bruise on her wrist, "How's that selfish?" His thumb came up to his teeth.

"What?" She blinked.

"You were worried I'd get hurt," he said, eyes moving around the truck bed before finally settling on hers, "How's that selfish?" She didn't look away for a long time, didn't speak either, before dropping her eyes and biting at her lip. He nodded.

"Take it," she pushed it at him and stood, "Please, just take it."

He shook his head, "I ain't gonna leave, Renee."

She paused, a puzzled frown crossing her face, "Why? Your...your brother's out there."

He watched her for a long time, "Maybe I'm selfish too."

The silence that followed wasn't awkward, it wasn't comfortable, it just was. She sat back down, he lifted his crossbow again. It seemed like forever before he spoke, eyes out on the road, "The hell did you do to yourself this time?"

"Something stupid."

"It worse than trying to get yourself blown to hell for a stuffed bear? Cause you gotta be tryin to out do that one," he said, and she gave a tired laugh. It was quiet again for just a moment. It was weird how silent silence could be these days.

"Maybe not that bad," she said with a soft smile, "Went alone into a dark CVS, got pinned under some shelves with a walker."

He shook his head and bit his lip as he looked at her. Rambo. The bruising would get nasty from the looks of it, couldn't really tell what was underneath from here, he knew what breaks felt like - had seen more than enough of them on Merle growing up, a couple on himself. He frowned, not moving towards her as he glanced at the imprint of his hand on her skin.

"How's your arm?" He wasn't sure why he asked.

She looked down at her banged up shoulder, "I don't know kind of stiff, I think it's fine though - I had Dale check it out, I mean he's not a doctor or -"

"The other one," he interrupted, "Your...your wrist."

Big brown eyes met his for just a second and he looked down. Didn't know why he'd asked. He hated the silence that followed as she watched him, hated that burning feeling in his stomach. Part of him wanted to grab that map, hop in his truck, and go find Merle even though he knew it was pointless, even though he knew it wouldn't make the guilt go away. He wished she'd just say something.

"Shit, is that Shane?" She suddenly stood, and he snapped up to follow her gaze. Walsh was sprinting down the road, gas can in hand. Shane wasn't the big issue, it was the ten walkers lumbering along behind him.

"Get in!" He yelled to her, leaping down into the cab. She followed slamming the passenger's door behind her, and they took off. Daryl slammed on the horn as they roared past the RV and a few heads popped up. He didn't like Shane, but didn't feel right letting him get ripped to pieces. Wasn't a good way to go.

"Hey! Hey, you ugly sons of bitches, c'mon!" He yelled out the window as he leaned on the horn. Renee followed his lead, screaming out the window to draw the walkers off Shane. Six or seven followed the truck, the others kept on the other man. He was close to the RV though, leaping in the doors as it sped off to follow Daryl and Renee.

He glanced at her as they tore around the corner. She still hadn't answered.

* * *

><p>They fell back in behind the RV, letting them lead the way. She'd expected them to head a couple streets over, stop and start filling up the cars, they kept pushing though. The needle on Daryl's truck was tipping closer and closer to red. She kind of felt like he was still waiting for her to say something, but she didn't know what to say so they drove in silence. What would she give to go back to when silences with him were comfortable?<p>

It took ten minutes for them to turn off the main streets into a back alley.

"What the hell?" Daryl's brow furrowed as followed the caravan.

"What?" She asked.

"This place, it's that old folks home - from when we went to look from Merle." Daryl frowned, throwing the truck into park.

"Didn't they kidnap Glenn?"

"Yup," He grabbed his crossbow, and she started to step out of the car, "Hey, Renee, you forgettin something?" It was weird, he kept calling her Renee. They'd hardly been on first name basis before he started teaching her, and well he'd been calling her Sunshine more often than not since then. For the longest time she'd wished he'd just call her by her name. Now she was starting to miss the Sunshines and the Reds, Renee felt too serious.

"Take your bow," he said, "Didn't leave on bad terms with these people, but don't wanna be gettin ourselves shot now either."

"My shoulder…" she started awkwardly, "It hurts to draw."

"Take it," he insisted, annoyance sneaking into his voice. She complied, carefully pulling her quiver over her shoulders, and nocking an arrow as he loaded his own bow, "C'mon."

She followed a few steps behind. Hopefully this would go well, she didn't want to be drawing her bow string today.

She pressed Jada closer to her as she tried not to gag. The children were crying as one round after another was fired. There were so many bodies. Some of them were walking, most of them weren't - splattered in blood and their own brains. The smell could have been worse, she was used to the sight of it as much as it still turned her stomach. The chilling part, the part she knew Daryl had noticed too, was how fresh it was. Almost twenty people, only a few walkers, most of the bodies had been left untouched...save a shot to the head. She didn't know what to make of it, but she knew they weren't just over run, and whatever had happened, hadn't happened all that long ago. The walkers hadn't even finished any of the bodies they were eating.

Daryl was up in the lead, shoving open doors, crossbow raised. Everything was silent except for the muffled sobs of the children. She glanced into one of the rooms as they passed, apparently so did Sophia. The little girl screamed when she laid eyes on the man inside, skull blown out.

"Get your girl to put a sock in it!" Daryl growled, glaring at Carol.

"Daryl!" Renee snapped at him, as Carol defended her girl, her voice sounding dangerously close to breaking.

"She's just a little girl."

"Yeah, and she's gonna get us all killed if she don't shut up." He kicked open another door, apparently leading to a set of stairs. He was in a mood again. Though when wasn't he?

The men quietly made their way up to the next floor, everyone else waited behind. The kids had gone to sit by the stairs, best place to run up or back if they needed to. The women were all standing a ways away in the hall. Renee glanced over at Carol, she looked frightened. Lori just looked pale. Andrea hardly looked like she felt anything at all anymore.

"I'm sorry about him," Renee said to Carol as they waited for the all clear.

Carol glanced at her wrist, and gave her a sad smile, "It's not your job to be sorry for him." Renee tensed and looked at Lori. The other woman just met her gaze, she wasn't going to say anything Renee didn't want her to.

"Doesn't mean he has the right to be an ass though." Renee looked back to Carol.

"He did that to you didn't he?" Andrea spoke up, pointing to the bruised wrist. It was starting to fade now, turning a greenish yellow.

She took a deep breath and looked to Lori, "Yeah. I don't know...things have been weird."

"You're not still seeing him are you?" Andrea asked.

"What?" Renee looked up suddenly, "We weren't...we never were...we're just friends." The thought of Daryl Dixon attempting to flirt was almost ridiculous. He was too awkward when he wasn't drunk, and too unpredictable when he was...it just wouldn't happen.

"Oh…I guess we all kind of thought you were," Lori said. Renee shook her head.

"We're friends...at least we were, I think we still are? He's sorry." She paused, glancing at the empty stairwell. A door banged upstairs.

"He tell you that?" Andrea asked.

"Well, no. I mean I've never heard Daryl actually apologize before...but I can, I can tell...I think. And he knows that I'm sorry too, I told him."

"It's not your job to be sorry for him," Carol repeated.

"No, I was….I fucked up. I had a lead on Merle, but I listened to Shane and didn't tell Daryl. We were pretty drunk, and it slipped out, and he freaked. I mean you saw him when they told him Merle had been left behind." Renee looked back up at them, "I don't know if he meant to hurt me or not, he was asking me if Merle was dead, I was too drunk to get the words out right."

"Are you defending him?" Andrea sounded incredulous.

"I...I don't...this is all so fucked…" She looked over at Carol, the faintest hint of the last bruise Ed ever gave her was a green tinge on her collarbone. They were right to be concerned. Carol most of all knew what it was like, the problem was that no one knew Daryl. Was he another Ed in the making, or did he just make a mistake? Honestly Renee didn't even know, she was pretty sure Daryl knew far more about her than she knew about him...he didn't exactly talk much.

"Renee, we can't tell you what to do," Lori glanced over at the children,"but be careful around him. Whether he wanted to hurt you or not, Daryl doesn't know how to control his temper. We don't want you getting hurt."

"I know."

"You can always come talk to us, you know that right?" Andrea asked.

"Yeah," Renee offered a soft smile, "I know."

* * *

><p>She didn't hold Jada anymore, but the little girl didn't look up, keeping her eyes firmly on the floor. Upstairs was worse than any place other than the court yard. Bodies were littered everywhere. No one looked comfortable, but they didn't have a lot of choices. It was getting dark - there was no way they were going back on the streets now. The walkers weren't exactly worse at night, just harder to see.<p>

"It looks like they got overrun," Andrea said, eyeing an old woman with a bullet in the forehead.

Daryl scoffed, "Observant."

"Oh, big word for you. That was what three whole syllables?" Andrea jabbed back, though she sounded tired instead of biting.

"Fuck off," Daryl growled at her, and then turned to the group "They didn't get overrun. Look at the bodies, no bites, didn't get ripped apart by no geeks. All got a bullet between the eyes, execution style."

"What're you saying?" Rick asked.

Renee felt cold, Daryl had just confirmed what she'd been thinking since she saw the courtyard. Since she saw the bodies in the hall, "Walkers aren't the worst monsters out there," she said. One of the bodies was hardly more than a kid, eyes still open,"People are."

"You think they might still be around?" Shane asked, looking to Rick.

"Could be," Daryl mused, "Walkers had hardly touched the bodies outside, they haven't been gone long."

"They aren't here anymore," Rick reassured them.

"Doesn't mean they aren't close," Carol held Sophia a little tighter, "What if they come back?"

Renee shook her head, "You guys said that the people here were pretty well armed?" Rick nodded, "I don't see any guns. This room looks like it was an infirmary, but the cabinets have been ransacked." She glanced at Carol, "They killed them for their supplies. There's nothing left for them to come back to."

She met Rick's gaze and he nodded, "Renee's right. We'll be careful, set up a watch schedule, but for now we stay here. We'll see if we can find any more gas in the morning...and then…" he looked at a man near his feet, "I think it's time we get out of Atlanta."

* * *

><p>Dinner was sparse, though there was more than enough gooey chocolate to go around. The kids were happy with that. They all ate together, in a little circle around a battery powered lamp from the RV.<p>

"You know," Shane said, going through his bag, "I had been saving this for a midnight drink back at the CDC, but uh," he pulled a bottle of wine out of the black duffle, and passed it to Daryl, "You saved my life today, you and Renee," he smiled, "You ain't half bad Dixon."

Daryl turned the bottle over in his hand, looking at the label.

"Just don't get too carried away with that," Lori said in a kind tone, though there was a warning underneath, and Daryl's eyes immediately found Renee. He nodded, biting at his lip.

"I'm gonna go take watch," he grumbled, standing up, taking the bottle and his crossbow with him.

They'd moved into a room with fewer bodies to take out before dinner. Now the kids were playing a game of go fish in the corner. Jada was quieter than normal, Sophia looked downright terrified. Other than the occasional groan of a walker outside, it was a pretty quiet night.

Everyone had disappeared off into their little groups. Andrea had disappeared into herself. Renee glanced out to the hallway Daryl had disappeared down. She still hadn't answered his question, just hadn't known what to say. With a quiet breath she stood and made her way to the hall. He was sitting at the top of the stairs, bottle beside him, crossbow across his lap. He heard her once she was halfway down the hall, glanced up, and then back down the staircase.

"It's okay." She sat down next to him, the bottle in between. Bright blue eyes met hers, but he didn't say anything. She'd almost say he looked scared, though she didn't know what of, "My arm...it uh...it doesn't hurt too bad."

He grunted, and looked back down the stairs. Though she got the distinct feeling he wasn't actually watching for anything.

"You had any of this yet?" Renee asked, hand wrapping around the bottle's neck. He shook his head. "Good," she said, "More for me," and took a swig before offering it to him. He shook his head again and she shrugged. The warmth of the wine was spreading up from her stomach, it was hardly even a buzz, she just felt looser. It had been a rough week. She was about to drink again when he grabbed the bottle from her and slammed it down on his other side, out of her reach.

It was a quiet for a moment as she watched him.

"I'm sorry," he said suddenly, and she froze as he looked to her. Gaze softening his eyes trailed down from her face to the bruise on her wrist. He frowned.

"It's okay, Daryl."

"It's not," he insisted, blue eyes bearing down on her, "It's not okay. I -" He trailed off into a frustrated growl, snapping back to look down the stairs, hands going to his hair. He took a deep breath, and then looked at her again. Blue eyes flickered in the lamplight, "I'm sorry."

He'd never said those words to her before, not once. Not when Merle held her at gunpoint, not when he'd spun around and accidentally smacked her in the face with a crossbow out in the woods, not when he called her a bitch the day Merle hadn't come back. Looking at him now, fully sober in every sense of the word. She knew he meant it.

**Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers! I'm going to post this chapter, put on my big pants, and go eat a shit ton of food hahaha. Anyways this was a kind of long one, sorry I haven't posted in a few days...had a lot going on. I hope you guys liked it though! And I hope to hear back from you. **

**See ya soon!**


	12. Mornings

**Well just got back from Thanksgiving...ate a lot of pie...probably going to go down stairs sometime within the next couple hours and grab a slice of leftover pie….call that dinner. Since I'm in too much of a food coma to make myself do things that I should be doing, I'm going to work on fanfiction instead. **

**Thanks to everyone who has followed and favorited this story! Special thanks to Inkandtrees, sillygabby, Starcrier, Guest, las131984, and redangel2463 for the reviews. To respond to guest's review, the last chapter followed a series of deleted scenes. They never left Atlanta after the CDC. **

**Chapter 12 - Mornings**

The sun had only just risen when the group bundled what little stuff they had into the RV, followed by children with covered eyes. They hadn't had time to clear the bodies. Nine or ten half chewed on, desiccating corpses wasn't something they needed to be seeing. The kids would wait in the RV, safely out of view of anyone who might still be watching while things were packed and gas tanks were filled. They hadn't decided where they were going yet, but the options were going to be dictated upon how often they came upon cars to siphon.

She didn't know how she'd fallen into the one group where just about everyone decided to bring a vintage car to the apocalypse, but she'd be damned if she ever found a worse collective gas mileage. Her Camaro hadn't exactly been a prius, but Daryl's truck was a monster when it came to fuel. The RV was even worse, not only was it old, it was huge. If only she'd found some environmentalists, they'd probably have solar panels and running hot water or something.

She kept her bow on her as she moved bags back into the RV. They were all uneasy, too many dead people. She'd never thought that the fact that they weren't all walkers would be terrifying, but it was. People had done this, and those people might not be here, but that didn't mean they weren't around somewhere.

It put everyone on edge.

"Renee, can I ride with Sophia and Carl again?" Jada asked, bouncing up and down when she entered the RV.

Renee looked to the three adults who would actually have to deal with her, "Is that okay with you guys?"

"Yeah, why not?" Lori smiled. Jada started bouncing up and down with Sophia, the older girl laughing and holding her hands.

"Hey," Renee caught her attention, "What do you say to Lori?"

"Thank you." Jada grinned.

Renee stepped back out of the RV. It wasn't too hot yet, the air still cool with morning dew. It was nice, the rotting smell wasn't quite so strong, she wasn't sweating quite so much. Everyone had laughed when they saw the stash of deodorant she'd picked up. They all knew exactly how bad they smelled. Deodorant helped, but honestly everyone could stand a shower. Back at the quarry they'd been able to bathe pretty regularly...maybe they'd find a new one. Or maybe some place by a river or a lake.

They needed a consistent source of water, they only had two or three bottles left right now. That wasn't going to last between thirteen people, not for long.

She had heard T-Dog and Glenn talking about riding in the RV, and she already knew Andrea was going to too. So it sounded like it would be almost as cramped as it had been the past few days, which honestly sounded awful. The Cherokee was full to capacity, which left one other option: Daryl.

The conversation they'd had last night had been reassuring. They were okay. She still felt confused, and she didn't know why, but they'd be okay. He hadn't seemed all that willing to talk about some things, particularly why he seemed so...she'd almost say frightened...why he was so unwilling to forgive himself even though she already had. She'd let him keep it to himself if he wanted, no use in pushing what wouldn't budge. If he wanted her to know he'd tell her.

"Hey." She came up behind him as he threw his bags into the back of his truck, packing them in around the bike's wheels.

He turned, "Hey." He didn't look like he'd slept all that well, dark circles ringed his eyes, he might've been a bit paler too but it was hard to tell under all that dirt. Though she didn't think anyone had slept well, it was hard considering the circumstances. He bit his thumb, looking at her, "You sleep okay?"

Oh good, she must look like shit too.

"Fine I guess. You look like hell though, I never heard you go to bed." T-Dog had gone to take him off watch, and T-Dog had come back five minutes later. She didn't know if Glenn had gotten better results or not, she'd been asleep by then.

"Wasn't tired. Thought I might as well keep watch." He shrugged.

She shook her head, laying her bow and quiver in the back of his truck, "And you tell me I do stupid shit." She saw him looking at her stuff, "Oh. I uh...I thought I could ride with you. If that's okay? RV's kind of crowded…"

"Hop in," he nodded to the cab, going around the back to get the driver's side. The caravan rumbled out of the alley and into the street, a few walkers began to shamble towards them, drawn by the noise. They'd probably start finding the bodies they'd left behind soon. She felt bad, just leaving them there like that, but they didn't have time to bury that many people. Burning could have worked, but the smoke would have drawn in walkers, and perhaps something else...someone else.

It was nice, leaving Atlanta behind. It took a good deal of hopping on and off blocked highways, and they double back more than once, but finally as they sped the wrong way down an empty road the skyscrapers began to fade into the distance. She couldn't be happier.

Daryl was still quiet, but it was the early morning 'Daryl's being Daryl' quiet, not the bad kind. At least she hoped. She drifted in and out a few times as they wound through the countryside. There wasn't much worth stopping for, some trees, some fields, a few houses. They could have been looted, but no one stopped to do so...felt wrong.

When she wasn't sleeping she'd watch the scenery fly by. Farm after farm, a couple burnt out houses, the entrances to a couple fancy suburbs. Then woods, just stand after stand of looming pine trees. It was then she started to notice something familiar, and coming around the bend she knew why.

The cube van.

"Daryl! Daryl stop, that's the van."

He didn't look over, just shook his head, "Ain't no point, near week old trail that leads to nowhere? Not gonna waste our time." She watched the van go by. "He's alive somewhere, we'll find him eventually."

"How-"

"He didn't have supplies on him, he wouldn't have been robbed. No body so they didn't kill him. Why pick a guy up off the side of the road just to kill him later? He's alive." He sounded so determined. Renee wasn't so sure, she didn't have that little sibling faith in Merle. Couldn't even keep it with her own family.

"I'm sorry," she said again, "Doesn't matter if we could have followed him or not. I should've told the truth."

"It's okay, Renee. We don't need to go comparing dicks over who's more to blame for what happened -"

"It's not about that, Daryl! No matter how you reacted, no matter if we could have found Merle or not...You're my friend I should have been honest with you from the start."

He looked at her for a moment, and then back at the road, "Well then, try not to lie to me."

She smiled, "You try and keep your temper...with everyone. Don't need a repeat of what happened the other day. I don't think anyone's going to like you any better if you keep pulling knives on people."

"Don't care what they think about me," he grumbled almost sounding sheepish.

"Keep telling yourself that, Dixon."

"Damn it!" He curse suddenly as the truck sputtered and they began to coast to a stop. He tapped the brakes and honked the horn once. The truck had run out of gas.

* * *

><p>The other cars had slid to a stop, Rick and Glenn were making their way towards the back. Renee had slipped out the other side. Damn thing should have lasted longer than this, they'd managed to fill everyone up to three quarters. He hopped out, going around the hood to meet the other guys. He hated to leave his truck, but he doubted he'd have much choice.<p>

"You two okay?" Rick called once he was a bit closer.

"Yeah, truck just ran empty." He looked back at the old blue beater. He'd had that truck since he was sixteen, birthday gift from Merle (kind of, it was five months late, but that's what Merle wanted to call it). Daryl had absolutely no idea how his brother had gotten it, and was almost certain that it wasn't legal, but they lived in a one cop town. That one cop spent more time eating donuts than running plates, so it wasn't like he'd get caught with it.

"Really?" Glenn's brow furrowed. Daryl glanced over to Renee, except she wasn't there. She was around the back, frowning at the road. Red hair flashed as she turned around and came back up to the front, ignoring them as she promptly got on her back and wriggled under the truck. The hell was she doing?

"Something nicked your fuel line!" she called out as she started to pull herself back out, "Probably that stick I told you to swerve around." He glared at her. "I can fix it, but we're still going to need more gas."

"We can move some gas from the other tanks," Rick said, "Should keep us all going till we reach the highway, we'll find some cars there."

"Nah, ain't worth the trouble." Daryl shook his head, "I'll just take the bike."

"You sure?" Renee looked at him, and he nodded.

"We can move your stuff into the RV," Glenn said, "Help you get the bike down. Should probably do it quick though," he glanced off into the thick pine woods, "Don't really like our visibility right now."

They got to work. Moving bags, using the two boards in the back to roll the bike down. Renee stopped off at the Cherokee to talk to Jada for a bit. It wasn't long before he'd strapped their bows to the back of the bike, and had swung on.

"Hey, Sunshine! You coming?" He revved Merle's bike, and she turned to look at him with the brightest smile on her face. He'd be damned if he knew why, but he bit his lip so he didn't grin like an idiot while she walked up.

"You gonna get me killed on this thing?" She asked, smile not faltering.

He rolled his eyes, "No, I ain't gonna kill you."

"Last time I was on this thing I almost died," she said, pulling her quiver over her back.

"You were fine on the bike. It was just when you got off-"

"That I almost got eaten?" She raised an eyebrow, and he shook his head.

"Just get on the damn bike, Red."

She laughed, and swung up behind him. A thin pair of arms wound around his waist as she pressed herself against him. He frowned, they were thinner than they used to be. She was thinner than she used to be, back when all this shit started. Girl hadn't been eating enough. He took in a breath as her nose traced over his back, and she buried her face between his shoulderblades.

"Tell me when we stop moving."

* * *

><p>He'd called her Sunshine. Didn't know when the change happened, but he'd called her Sunshine again. They were okay. Smiling softly into his back she shifted, turning so her cheek rested against him. He was nicer to ride with, his brother had been pretty reckless, but Daryl was tamer. Probably helped that their pace was dictated by that of the RV, but it was still a less nerve wracking ride.<p>

She tried to think of the motorcycle as a very fast four wheeler, minus two wheels. She used to go four wheeling all the time, and that wasn't exactly safe either...at least not for her, she'd flipped her four wheeler at least twice and gotten knocked off by a branch. She'd managed to walk away with nothing more than bruises.

The wind was biting as they sped down the highway, it was an oddly cool day - cloudy. Daryl was warm though, and a pretty damn good wind buffer. Only her arms and knees were all that cold. He had to be freezing though, he wasn't allowed to complain though, it was his own damn fault he refused to wear anything with sleeves half the time. Though part of her said she didn't mind, he had nice arms.

They slowed down dramatically, and she looked up. A sea of cars loomed before them, another gridlock of abandoned vehicles. Daryl coasted past the Cherokee and Renee waved to Jada, as he started to kick his way up to the RV. Dale had rolled down the window, leaning out to them.

"Do you think you can go ahead?" He called down, "Find a path through."

Daryl nodded and revved the bike, easily weaving in and out cars. They didn't talk, but she kept her head up - eyes on the cars around them. A few had bodies in them, but they weren't moving. It was hard to tell which ones had shot themselves, and which had been shot sometime after they'd died. Eventually he spun back around and rode up to the RV.

"There's a way through!" He yelled over the roar of the bike.

"Lead the way!" Dale called back, and they spun back around.

They'd hardly made it a hundred feet in when there was a loud pop and hiss from the RV. Daryl stopped the bike and the twisted to look behind them, her hands trailing down to rest on his hips. Steam rose from the RV as Dale stepped out, waving his hat. The radiator hose had broken again. Cursing she jumped off the bike, and helped Dale open up the grill. That damn RV was out to get them, she knew it - they'd had that hose all of a few days, it couldn't have given out already.

She glanced back a Daryl as Dale shine a flashlight into the RV. He looked impatient, wanted to get moving.

"Is it completely shot, or do you think we could patch it up?" She peered in at the engine.

"We could probably patch it up...you got anymore duct tape?" He looked up at her and smiled. She laughed, duct tape seemed to be his favorite all purpose fixer upper. Her dad would have had a heart attack, he was a buy the parts type of guy.

"Dale we used it all on the last hose," she sighed and straightened to look at the mess of cars, "There's gotta be someone who left some behind though."

"While we're here we could probably all spread out," Shane said, "Look for supplies. Food."

"Water," T-Dog added, they were down to half a bottle.

"Can we help?" Carl asked, and Sophia and Jada nodded eagerly. Respective parents gave their consent, and their faces lit up. They were about to run off when Renee caught Jada's shoulder.

She knelt down, "Hey, stay in sight of Lori or Carol okay?" Jada nodded, "I'm going to be here helping Dale with the RV, so if you need anything you know where I am okay?" Jada nodded, "Can you repeat that back to me?" Renee raised an eyebrow.

"Stay with Lori and Carol. If I need you you're fixing the RV." Jada said sounding bored - Renee just had to check sometimes Jada tuned out when it came to instructions - and then ran off after her friends.

"Alright, and follow their instructions okay?" The little girl didn't respond, within seconds all she could see of her was hair bobbing in and out between car trunks. Renee shook her head. The sooner they got out of there the better, she didn't like all the bodies. They looked like they'd been walkers, but the fact that they were dead meant someone else had come through. Didn't it?

The people who had slaughtered the old folks were still heavy in the back of her mind.

Glenn came back with duct tape about five minutes later. Apparently he'd expressed interest in mechanics 'cause she got shunted off onto watch duty so that Glenn could get a lesson. Taking her bow and a few Tylenol for her shoulder she climbed up the ladder with a lawn chair and a dejected attitude. Mechanics was her and Dale's thing, she knew she was being childish, but still.

At least up here she could keep an eye on everyone. Jada was playing tag with Sophia and Carl. Shane had found a huge truck full of water, thank god. Everyone else was pulling fuel or looking for supplies. She watched as Daryl started searching the body of a dead man, a few seconds later he popped up with a lit cigarette and took a drag. Her lip curled. That was just gross.

She shook her head and turned around, Rick wasn't too far away standing with a rifle aimed at something in the distance. She followed his sight, and her heart froze. He wouldn't be able to see it yet, but there were walkers...a lot of them.

"Dale! Glenn!" She hissed over the edge of the roof, "Get in the RV!" They looked up at her, stunned, "Now!" She raised her voice as much as she dared, and they nodded quickly slipping in the door. She took one last glance around her group, Rick was getting Lori, Carol, and the kids under cars. Carl quickly grabbed Jada's hand and pulled her under an SUV with him. Daryl hadn't noticed them coming yet, but she couldn't get his attention without getting the walker's too. He would be okay. He could take care of himself. With that she flattened herself to the roof of the RV, and did her best not to breath.

Objectively she was the safest person in the group, even if the walkers saw her they wouldn't be able to get to her. Still she hated where she was. She couldn't see anything, couldn't tell what was going on. Was Jada okay? Had Daryl made it somewhere safe? All she could hear were shuffling feet somewhere down below. Glenn, Dale, and Andrea would be okay. They were in the RV, walls and a door between them and the dead. Everyone else was relying on the walkers' slow witted nature.

Andrea screamed.

There was a series of sickening crunches, and the screams quieted to shaky sobs. Glenn or Dale was murmuring something to her, but Renee couldn't make out the words. Had she been bit? God she felt so helpless, she couldn't see a damn thing.

The footsteps were beginning to fade.

Inch by inch she pulled herself to the edge of the roof, even from here she couldn't see much. A few walkers were still passing through, most were just heads bobbing up and down in a sea of cars. The others must've been under the cars, out of sight. It was probably best that they were waiting, no point in risking drawing that herd back in. She took a deep breath, Jada was fine. Andrea though…

The last of the walkers were shuffling past when she heard a cry. Two of those things dropped their jaws in vicious smiles, rotted hands grabbing at a little girl. Sophia ducked and ran, pulling herself over the guardrail and down the embankment, the walkers tumbling after her. It all happened so fast, within seconds Rick was running after her, and she just watched belly down with her hand around her bow. Carol was crying as she pulled herself underneath a van not far away, struggling with Lori to get to her baby.

"Sophia!" A little voice yelled, scrambling out from under an SUV. Jada was running for the guardrail. No. Renee ignored the last six rungs on the ladder, stumbling slightly as she took off for the edge of the highway. She couldn't see Jada, she must have already gone over the rail. There was no way in hell she was losing that little girl. Not now, not after everything. Rocks dug into her ribs as she rolled down the embankment, a sequin studded shirt flashed not far into the underbrush.

It was a matter of seconds before she had her hands on Jada's shoulders, pulling her back from the woods and around to look her in the eyes.

"What are you doing?!" Renee snapped, crouching down to her level.

"Sophia-"

"No! Carol and Lori told you to stay put didn't they?" Jada hesitated, "Didn't they?!" Jada nodded, tears welling in her eyes. Renee took a deep breath, pulling the little girl into a hug. "Sophia's going to be fine sweetie, okay? Rick's going to find her."

Jada nodded into her shoulder, stifling a strangled little sob. Renee held her closer, "Just don't do that again."

Her heart hadn't stopped thudding in her chest as she helped Jada up the embankment. Everyone had come back out, Andrea had blood on her, but no bites. T-Dog looked worse off, soaked in blood from a pretty nasty tear in his arm. He was draped over Daryl's shoulders, looking like he was going to pass out.

Carol had stopped struggling, just nodded tearfully as Lori fed her false promises. There was nothing that could be said for sure these days.

With one last glance at the woods, Renee turned to the teary eyed girl at her side, there were scrapes on her hands and knees, "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

* * *

><p>They'd run out of bandaids back at the quarry, Dale had some clean rags for the worst of Jada's scrapes. With a bright blue cloth tied around her knee, the little girl waited as impatiently as everyone else for Rick and Sophia to return. Andrea had shut herself off in the RV, Jada had gone to sit with Carl while they waited for their friend, Lori was doing her best to keep Carol calm, Dale was doing his best to fix up T-Dog. She felt so useless.<p>

Daryl was up on the hood of a truck, crossbow in hand, eyes roaming over the road, the forest, back to the road. Shane looked just as restless, pacing back and forth between Lori and the kids finger close to the shot gun's trigger.

She'd had her hand on her bow, all it would have taken was a moment to stand and draw. Two head shots and they could have moved on. Instead the group had been wired to the highway, waiting and waiting. Time crawled by, people shifted positions, everyone kept watching. Eventually she found herself on the roof of an old sedan a few cars away from Daryl, bow in hand.

Something rustled in the woods. She nocked an arrow. Carol looked up. Rick walked out, twelve hearts dropped. He was alone. White tee shirt stained with dirt, and sweat, and blood he scanned over the group once, twice, three times as they gathered around him. Ten people held their breath.

"Where's Sophia?" He asked, chest heaving with each breath, "Is she not back yet?"

Ten hearts stopped. One broke.

It was a long time before Carol stopped crying.

* * *

><p>Glenn and Shane had headed back to the group a while ago. The sun was getting lower and lower behind the trees. Sophia was frightened of her own shadow, but she wasn't dumb. She'd find shelter somewhere, a bush or a tree. Renee was getting restless though, squinting at a cold trail in dying light. They'd find her, he knew it. It wasn't like tracking a little girl was any harder than tracking a deer. Even if they went back tonight empty handed, he'd pick it up again in the morning.<p>

Sophia wouldn't be on her own for long.

The dying light that turned Renee's hair to fire, turned the blood that coated his hands to mud. He let out a heavy breath, couldn't quite get the stink of death out of his nose. Could be worse. Could have found a little girl in that walker's stomach. Rick looked like shit too, the walker's blood across his shirt. Renee looked tired, but at least she wasn't coated in dirt.

He glanced at the sky, there was no point in pushing any farther, "C'mon, Sunshine. Time to head back."

"What'd you just call me?" Rick asked, a hint of a smile on his face.

"Fuck off," Daryl muttered and then blinked, "Wait, where the hell'd Renee go?" He looked to Rick.

The Sheriff shrugged, a frown crossing his face, "She was right behind me a second ago." His brow furrowed, as they both scanned the tree line. Daryl suppressed a growl, he didn't know what she thought she was doing this time, but she was gonna get an earful when he found her. Running off on her own in a walker infested forest. She probably wouldn't die, but she was starting to roll dice that just weren't in her favor.

"Renee!" He called, and waited for a second, "Renee!"

"I'm over here!" She called back, and he stalked off in the direction of her voice, Rick following along behind. A couple thin branches whipped back at him as he pushed through the brush, grumbling the whole way.

"The hell do you think you're doing?" He asked, when he finally got a glimpse of red hair.

"Look!" She smiled up at him, "I found this right here." She pointed at a thorny patch of briars. It was a scrap of pale blue cloth, he took it from her, running it between his fingers. Part of Sophia's shirt, must have gotten torn off trying to push through the bushes. "We can pick up the trail again-"

"Not tonight," he shook his head, "Gonna be too dark to see in a minute, we head back to the highway, start again in the morning."

"But-"

"She's a smart kid, probably holed up somewhere waiting for morning." He gave her the piece of shirt back, "We'll find her." With that he turned to walk back towards the highway, her footsteps falling in behind his. "And while you're at it, stop running off."

"I didn't run off," she protested, "I just didn't follow."

"Well fucking say something next time would ya? Don't need to be losing you too."

* * *

><p>The group must have heard them coming up the embankment. They were practically all there waiting at the guardrail. Carol looked like she was half expecting a little girl to step up from the woods, even though she knew from the looks on the other three's faces that it wasn't going to happen.<p>

"You didn't find her?" Carol asked, voice tipping towards the edge.

Rick shook his head, "I'm sorry."

Carol glanced at the blood the stood bright on Rick's white shirt, her mouth twisting downwards, "Is that?"

"We ran into a walker," he explained, and then quickly added "It was never anywhere near Sophia," when he saw the look on her face.

"How could you possibly know that?" She asked."

"Cut the son'bitch open," Daryl said, doing his best not to bring his thumb to his teeth. Whatever was caked under his nails couldn't be good for him.

"We found this though," Renee said, holding out the scrap of shirt tentatively. Carol took it, worrying it nervously with her fingers, "We can go back there in the morning, pick up the trail...we have a start."

The woman nodded, and turned walking away like the world was shoving down on her shoulders. He watched her go, biting his lip. Wasn't right, woman had already gone through too much - didn't deserve this too.

Holding back a sigh he hopped over the guardrail, Renee close behind.

"You aren't taking watch again tonight are you?" She asked, he kept his back to her, rolling his eyes, "Cause you didn't sleep last night, and you've been running around like a mad man today. You try and pull another all nighter tonight you're going to fall over dead."

"Ain't gonna pull an all nighter, doesn't mean I can't take watch."

"Daryl, you're gonna drive yourself into the ground like this," he froze when her hand, softly pulled on his forearm. She darted around in front of him, hand still warm against his skin, "Please, let me take your watch. Just for the love of god, get some sleep tonight."

He let out a breath, looking down to meet her eye. She was too short to look at straight when she was standing this close. "Fine," he gave in, "Just don't run off again."

"I didn't run off!" She protested as he moved around her. He'd rather stay up all night than get crammed into that damn RV again, but he didn't think Renee was going to budge. Doing his best not to scowl he went off to try to sleep in that crowded hell hole.

* * *

><p>She'd almost say it was chilly...almost. There had definitely been hotter nights that summer, she hadn't been keeping track of days, but it was getting close to the end of August now wasn't it? Or was it September now? She shook her head, no point in knowing anyways.<p>

She frowned, she had the final watch. She'd get to see the sunrise, but for now it was damn near impossible to see. She could look all she liked, but eventually her eyes just started to hurt. She'd hear the walkers coming before she saw them at this point. With a sigh she stretched her legs out across the car hood, and leaned back against the wind shield. Dale had the RV roof, and a chair, and a blanket. She had this nice comfy slab of metal and glass.

Even just a blanket would be nice.

She could hear the crickets singing, and every once in a while she could hear an owl hooting off in the distance, but she didn't even notice the footsteps coming up behind her until he'd jumped up on the car next to her. She jumped a bit, Daryl, it was just Daryl.

"Can't see much when you're sittin," he commented.

"Can't see much at all, it's too dark." He just grunted, "I thought I told you to sleep."

His shoulders shrugged against hers, "Couldn't, too crowded."

"You could sleep here." She looked at him. He brushed her off and she rolled her eyes, going back to watching the dark. His arm was touching hers, but as time went on they went from touching to pressing. His weight against her growing as he slowly drifted off to sleep, chin against his chest. She shook her head, that just couldn't be comfortable.

Quietly she scooted over, praying to god he was a deep sleeper as she tried to lower his head down to her lap. Apparently he wasn't.

He looked at her blearily, blinked, and then frowned, "What're you doin?"

"You're gonna have a crick in your neck if you sleep like that."

"You didn't answer my question," he said, words slurring slightly.

"You can use me as a pillow if you want," she offered. She didn't really expect him to accept, which was why she had hoped he wouldn't wake up.

"I'm fine." Yup there it was.

"Oh stop with your fucking man pride and lay down, Dixon." She pulled at his shoulder, and he reluctantly complied, scooting down the glass so he could rest his head against her stomach. He took a moment to get settled, twisting this way and that.

"Happy?" He muttered.

"Yeah," she smiled down at him, "Now get some fucking sleep."

He scoffed, but pretty soon he was out again - cheek on her stomach, one leg hanging over the edge of the hood. She sighed, letting one hand run through his hair. The night crept on, it was still kind of chilly, but he was almost like a blanket. Pretty warm if nothing else.

The world began to turn grey in the pre-dawn glow, then purple, before the brilliant rays of orange and gold began to seep over the horizon. He almost looked peaceful, just for a moment before a scowl pull at his mouth. Only Daryl could be grumpy in his sleep. The sour expression passed, and he shifted slightly, face pressing in against her.

"Morning, Sunshine," he said sleepily, only half audible between being half awake and having his mouth half buried in her shirt.

"Morning, Daryl." She smiled softly, it was going to be a long day.

**Woo chapter 12! Hope you guys liked it. It's kind of late right now, haven't decided whether I'll post this tonight or post it in the morning. Enh I'll figure it out...but we're into season 2 now! Not sure how many chapters season 2 will take, I'll figure that out eventually as well. Ugh, have to take my SAT subject tests next saturday...should probably be studying for that...oh well. I hope to hear back from you guys! **

**See ya soon!**


	13. Something to Die For

**Alright chapter thirteen. I'm starting this December first, by no means do I expect it to be done this week. If it is either a) a miracle has occurred b) I have completely given up on life, responsibility, and hope for my future. Honestly the latter is pretty damn possible...sigh. Wow I'm just so tired, got back from break today got a good two hundred pages to read for friday, (plus reflections) between Crime and Punishment for Lit, and the text book for CompGov. Then I'm directing a one act for theater class and we've entered hell week, and college apps, and SAT IIs are coming, and fuck it all I'm so done. But on the bright side I surpassed my Nano goal of 50,000 by about 6,000 words.**

**(It is now December 7th! I succeded in not fucking all my shit up! And am now posting from a relatively stress free state)**

**Anyways enough ranting. Thanks to everyone who has followed and favorited. Special thanks to redangel2463, Starcrier, Guest, sillygabby, las131984, Teacup, and Sevvus for the reviews. Also shoutout to las131984 for writing the 50th review for this story. **

**Chapter 13 - Something to Die For**

It's amazing, how quickly things can change in twelve hours. Her day had risen with the sun, with red light and sleepy smiles. It set in much the same way, red blood and frantic sobs. She reached desperately for her little girl as one solemn shot echoed through the trees.

The deer fell first.

* * *

><p>Daryl was the first to get up that morning. Bleary eyed, but looking well rested - or at least as well rested as he could be. She watched him in the red gold light of the rising sun, trying to find the motivation to stand with him. Instead she just halfheartedly tightened her fingers around her bow. It was so early...or was it late? She technically hadn't gone to sleep last night…<p>

"C'mon, Red, we're losing the light." Daryl turned to look at her.

"Daryl the sun's been up for ten minutes."

"Yup, now get your ass up lets go." He shook his head slightly in the direction of the RV. It was astounding how he could be so awake, he'd had maybe four hours of sleep in the past forty eight. She felt like she was going to fall over, and she'd gotten a full eight the other night even if she didn't get any this past one.

She groaned, slowly getting to her feet. Daryl waited, shifting his weight back and forth. He rolled his eyes, came up behind her, took her by the arm, and started walking.

"And you were yellin' at me to get some sleep?" He shook his head, "A good breeze would blow you over right now."

"I'm fine," she said through a yawn, stumbling slightly as her tired feet struggled to keep up.

"Uh-huh, keep telling yourself that, Sunshine," he said as he led her up into the RV. Carol was making breakfast, methodically taking one bowl after another down, and placing them on the counter with a thunk. There was something going in a pot, probably ramen, they'd found a pretty big cache of it in one of the cars. T-Dog was asleep in the back, arm bandaged and oozing. Jada was still out like a light, one arm dangling off the side of the booth bench, head resting on the other.

"Come on sweetie," she shook her shoulder gently, "Jada," the little girl groaned, "Come on, time to get up."

"I don-...wanna," she took in a huge breath, trying to roll onto her other side.

Renee smiled, "Breakfast's gonna be ready in a few minutes," she ran a thumb over the little girl's cheek, "Come on, don't wanna miss that now do we?"

"Yes, yes we do." Jada grumbled, throwing an arm over her eyes. Renee laughed, putting one hand on either side of her, and pulling her up into the sitting position. Jada gave a dramatic huff, but was too tired to give much more of a fuss. She just sulkily stared at the empty table in front of her.

"Where is everyone?" Renee asked Carol, sliding in next to Jada. Daryl hadn't taken a seat, he was still up near the door, leaning against the wall.

"Rick and Shane went to check back by the stream," Carol's voice was stiff, "Carl needed to use the bathroom, and Glenn's in there, so he and Lori probably a little ways down the road."

"Dale still on the roof?" She asked.

Daryl gave a short laugh, "You really do need to get some sleep," he pointed up at the roof, "walked right past him less than a minute ago."

Renee blinked heavily, "Oh...yeah."

Carol had started spooning out portions of ramen when Glenn stepped out of the bathroom, and sat down across from Renee, "Morning." He smiled, he was always so damn chipper when he woke up...it was unnatural. "What we got for breakfast?"

"Ramen," Carol said, handing off a bowl to Daryl before setting down two for Renee and Jada, and then one for Glenn.

"You got any of those flavor packets?" He asked, licking his lip.

"Shrimp or chicken?" Carol asked with a half smile.

"Shrimp," he said, eagerly taking the packet and dumping it onto his ramen.

Renee stared at him, "Really?" He looked up, "Shrimp?"

"It's good." She shook her head, "Come on try it." He held up a spoon full of powdery ramen, there wasn't enough water in the bowl for it to dissolve all that well. Her lip curled and she shook her head adamantly, "What about you Jada? You want some shrimpy noodles?"

She looked at him, eyebrow raised, "No. That stuff is nasty." She was staring at the spoon like it was a cockroach or something.

"Daryl?" Glenn turned to hold the spoon out to him.

Daryl stared at blankly at the soggy grit covered noodles, before shaking his head ever so slightly, "Couldn't pay me to touch that shit." Then he just went back to eating his own noodles.

Glenn shrugged, plopping it in his mouth, "You guys are missing out."

"We're just not." Renee sighed, laughing as she took a bite of her plain noodles. Shane and Rick would be back soon, and then they'd all head out, find Sophia. Get back on the road, and hopefully soon.

* * *

><p>It might've been past noon or it might've been late morning, she couldn't remember which direction the sun had risen from - but based on how much her feet hurt, she was going to guess past noon. They hadn't found much, just some false hope and a dead man. Blew his brains out, couldn't say she blamed him. Renee's eyes flitted over to Andrea, who was walking just a ways off from everyone else. She didn't blame her either, but some guilty part of her was grateful Dale had convinced her to walk out of the CDC. She didn't want to lose anyone else.<p>

Dale and T-Dog were back at the RV, but everyone else was out in the woods. Even Jada and Carl had come, though it took a bit begging on their part, she guessed it was for the best. It gave her peace of mind to have an eye on her, for the group to have an eye on her. She trusted T-Dog and Dale, but T-Dog was out of it, and Dale had watch duty. There wasn't much room for babysitting there.

Carol's shoulders slumped slightly as they walked. Every hour they didn't find Sophia was another hour she was alone, another hour she could have died. So far they were approaching twenty four. She didn't know a lot about missing persons cases, but from the look on Shane's face, the chances weren't good.

She frowned, glancing at the group. They weren't exactly covering a lot of ground, and with ten people all out at once they weren't moving fast either. Daryl was up front, watching for a trail, the kids were putzing along in the back. It was going to get late eventually, and they weren't going to find anything like this.

"Shouldn't we split up?" She asked, glancing over at Rick though her voice was loud enough for the group to hear.

"That safe?" Shane stopped to look at her, so did everyone else.

"I mean we shouldn't go off alone, but I wouldn't exactly call this," she gestured out to the group, "productive. There are ten of us, we could cover a hell of a lot more ground."

"Daryl's the tracker," Rick said matter of factly.

"I can track a bit too, and y'all are cops," she nodded to Rick and Shane, "You know how, don't you?"

"A little." Rick nodded.

"Alright then so four groups," Renee said, "I'll take Jada and Andrea. Rick can have Lori and Carl. Daryl and Carol. Shane and Glenn. We'll cover more ground, make less noise if there are walkers, and at least someone in every group knows how to fight so as long as we don't run into any herds...I don't see the problem."

"She has a point," Daryl spoke up, "We're more likely to fuck up a trail than find it at this rate."

"Alright," Rick conceded, "Groups. No one go much more than a couple miles in any direction, be back at the highway by sundown."

Everyone milled into the groups they'd been assigned. Renee took Jada's hand, and headed off with Andrea, giving one last glance at Daryl before he and Carol disappeared into the woods.

* * *

><p>Andrea had been very quiet. Renee frowned watching the blonde woman march along beside her. Jada was running back and forth around them, though Renee had snapped at her more than once not to run in front - didn't need the trail to get messed up...supposing they ever found it. Somehow she had the dreadful feeling that the other groups were doing just as poorly.<p>

"You said that if I ever needed to talk, you were here for me, right?" Renee started, glancing at Andrea.

Andrea's expression softened the slightest bit, "Of course."

"You know that I'm here too...if you want to…"

"Talk?" Andrea's smile was laced with bitterness, she wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Yeah." Renee watched Jada, bouncing back and forth through the trees. She was singing nursery rhymes to herself as she ran. "I know you've been through a lot."

"Jack and Jill went up the hill," Jada sang.

"You don't know anything." The words were meant to be biting, but the emotion couldn't quite reach her voice.

"To fetch a pail of water."

"No I don't," Renee conceded, "I have no idea what that was like for you...I can't begin to imagine it, look I'm just saying if you wanna talk...about Amy, about this morning…"

Andrea was quiet for a while, leaving them with nothing but the sound of dry leaves under boots and Jada's giggles and discordant notes as she wound tree to tree, "It wasn't his choice."

"Nope." Renee agreed.

"Jack fell down."

"But you still wouldn't give me a gun?" Andrea's lips twisted in a sarcastic smile.

"That's not my choice either," Renee shook her head slightly, and went back to scanning the ground for little footprints that weren't Jada's.

"I wouldn't do it, you know? Not like that - I...I wanted to end it at the CDC so I could end it on my terms. My way. A bullet in the head?" Andrea looked Renee in the eye, and shook her head, "That's how she went."

"And broke his crown."

"That wasn't her." Renee said quickly.

"And Jill came tumbling after."

"What?" Andrea half smiled, "You trying to convince me to bite it now, huh?"

"No I mean…" She shook her head, "I don't know."

"I know it wasn't her." Andrea stopped, as Jada ran circles around them. Kid sure didn't tire out easily, "I just...I can't get out of my head," her voice started to strain, "that moment when she opened her eyes, and just for a moment I thought...I thought, that she was still there." There was a teary glaze to her eyes. Renee didn't know how to respond, what to say, to do. Jada just ran round and round, singing to the trees, she'd moved on to rock-a-bye baby. "I'm sorry." Andrea shook her head, quickly starting off again. Renee followed. "It's just that sometimes...what have I got left?"

"You shouldn't kill yourself."

"I thought you said it was my choice," Andrea said, "I don't know if I would do it or not, but Amy was all I had. I don't have her, or my family, my friends. I don't have anything left."

"Yeah you do." Renee said, honestly.

"I swear, if you go off on Dale's we care about you shit-"

"No! I mean I care about you, but...you do have something left. I...maybe it's silly...I don't know." She brought a thumb to her teeth, and quickly dropped it back down, she was spending too much time with Daryl, "It's just. The way you've been talking, about wanting to choose the way we die? You're right," Renee trailed off a bit. "Unless some miracle happens and the dead stop living, then we're all on a pretty damn short timer. We aren't going to save the world, or even see grandchildren, or get that dream job. It doesn't matter how we live, it matters how we die, what we die for. I don't know…" she looked up at Andrea, "It seems like a lot to waste on someone who's already gone."

Andrea looked at her, her expression was hard to read. It almost looked like she was going to say something in return when a shriek cut through the air.

Jada.

"Shit!" Renee took off at a sprint towards the little girl and the dead man smiling over her. It was a matter of seconds before she had an arrow nocked, another before she stood, aimed, and let loose. The arrow pierced it's head with a wet thud, and the thing tumbled to the ground. Jada had fallen butt first into the dirt, face stained with tears as she watched the dead man beside her.

The girl was a feather in her arms, as she hoisted her into the air and away from the body. A businessman, once, with an expensive looking suit and a gold tie pin. Jada had gotten very good at crying quietly over the past few months. Tears fell, and her face twisted, and her breath gasped - but not a single wail or sob. She held it in, and pressed her face into Renee's shoulder.

"It didn't get you did it?" Renee asked, running her hands through the little girl's hair.

Jada sniffed. Renee held her breath.

"Did it?"

Jada shook her head, and Renee exhaled. They were all waiting for their time to die, it wasn't Jada's, not yet. If Renee could help it, it would be a long time before Jada took her last breath - even if it meant she stopped breathing herself...they all had to have a reason to die

.

* * *

><p>The bells rang loud and clear through the wood. Her first thought was that everyone would have heard that, the sound would have gone for miles. Her second, was that the only reason someone would be ringing bells, would be if they wanted to be found. Andrea appeared to be thinking the same thing. Renee grasped Jada's hand, and the three of them started running for the sonorous music.<p>

It was hard to tell how much farther it was, the way the sound bounced around the forest. Her lungs burned and her muscles were on fire. Sweat trickled down her neck, and her back, and formed in the spaces where Jada's fingers touched hers. It didn't matter though, the sooner they got to Sophia the better. The entire group would have heard, but so would have every geek in walking distance.

She assumed they were looking for a church, kept looking for the point of a steeple piercing through the treetops. Still as the trees began to thin, and flashes of golden grass were seen through the spaces between pines, she never saw the tell tale white paint on the skyline. The bells stopped ringing just as they broke out into the field, a little church sitting square in the center. There was no steeple, and as far as she could see, no Sophia.

Shane and Glenn had already made it, walking up from around the back to stand on the white washed porch. Daryl and Carol burst out from the other side of the field, Carol at full sprint even ahead of Daryl. She got their first, Renee, Daryl, and the others making it to the porch not long after.

"She's not here?" Carol breathed out, voice catching on the cracks in her throat.

Shane shook his head, "Bells were a recording."

"But she could still be inside - she could still - Sophia!" Carol called running for the steps, Daryl caught her swiftly by the arm. She pulled and struggled, but his grip held firm, and he placed himself in front of her.

"We'll go in first…" He looked at Renee, Shane, and Glenn, "Don't know what's in there."

The first thought was walkers, though she supposed there could be something much worse - a little body wandering between the pews.

The Grimes' were running towards the church, Carl in the lead, "Sophia? Sophia, is she here?" He asked, looking to Shane.

Shane looked back at Rick, "The bells were on a recording, we're going to check inside," his eyes flitted down to Carol, and his mouth twitched as he shook his head ever so slightly.

Daryl gave an annoyed grunt, pushed past the cop, and went to the door. Renee told Jada to stay with Lori and Carl, and quickly followed him. He already had the door open, she could swear she heard Shane mutter something about dumb ass rednecks as the crossbow loosed with thwang. By the time she got in Glenn was going around the side to get at a walker with his machete. She nocked an arrow, and let it fly. A little red stain began to spread into the bride's veil where the arrow stuck out.

Three dead walkers, but not a sign of a little girl.

Ten people filed into the church, took seats in the pews, and bowed their heads. Some out of exhaustion, some to pray. She sat down with Daryl, and bowed her head to his shoulder. The sleep had been burning her eyes for the past hour, and now that the adrenaline of running all this way had passed, she was about ready to pass out again. He didn't move closer, but he didn't move away, which was all that mattered to her right now - he was far comfier than the back of a wooden bench.

She's always hated church when she was a kid. It was so boring. As she and her brother got older, and started having more homework, and her parents started having more work period...they just kind of stopped going - much to their Aunt Marge's horror. It wasn't really a personal offense to the big chief upstairs or anything...just Father Norris' monotone was going to send them to heaven a little sooner than they'd like.

She must have been six or seven when they finally stopped going, her brother must have been eight at least. After that she stepped into the church only one more time, when she was seventeen. Father Norris had finally bored even himself to death, had a heart attack while writing his sermons. His replacement, she heard from her best friend Anna, who had always had a bit of a faithful streak, was young and cute, and could talk about J.C. without tempting you to go visit him early. Father Terrance was his name.

He was young, probably in his mid twenties, with a clean shaven face and straight cut brown hair. It was a nice face, handsome, but the kind of handsome you see on every other frat boy - nothing special - though anything compared to father Norris was nothing short of angelic. A sweet voice, and a charming smile, and a way with words.

She didn't stay though. Pretty words weren't faith to her, faith was in her heart, in her knowledge that God was watching. That he knew best.

Now, her only defense was that God must have been very drunk the past few months. She didn't believe in an angry God, or a vengeful God, she believed in one who loved openly and equally. This wasn't punishment for some great sin, this wasn't the locusts raining on Egypt, or the flood to wash them clean - this was carelessness.

God had checked out, and as far as she was concerned, he wasn't coming back.

She let her eyes open, taking one last side long glance at Christ's figure, before mumbling into the hollow between Daryl's shoulder and neck, "We should go out on the porch, keep watch… don't know if any walkers heard those bells." It was too stuffy in there anyways.

Daryl didn't say anything, but he stood, and she swayed without his support. Warm hands helped her up and out the door, into the only slightly cooler air. It would be better once the sun was down.

"It's starting to get late," she commented, the sun was sinking low towards the treeline.

"Yeah, we'll have to head back soon." He didn't sound all that happy about it.

"Do you think we'll find her?" she asked, looking out at the looming pines, "She's been out there a long time...I haven't wanted to say anything to Carol, but the way things are now...how much of a chance does a twelve year old girl have?"

Daryl's jaw tightened, "We're gonna find her."

She didn't push the subject further.

* * *

><p>Jada had begged and begged to keep looking with Carl, and Shane, and Rick. Renee could have told her no, could have picked her up - willingly or not - and taken her back to the highway, and back to her makeshift bed. She could have spent a peaceful night by a little campfire, sitting under the stars with Daryl and warm bowl of noodles. He was going to be on watch tonight, she could have laid on a car hood with his lap as a pillow and his arm as a blanket.<p>

But she didn't say no. She looked into big, brown doe eyes, and all she could see was a little girl who wanted more than anything to see her friend home safe. They didn't have a trail to follow or, at this point, much more than a body to find, but two little kids still had faith. There wasn't much she could do to break it, so she played along.

It couldn't do any harm, could it?

The group split down the middle, five for the highway, five for the woods. It was mid afternoon. Thick air, thick with bugs. It was hot, and her feet hurt, and her legs hurt, and what she wouldn't give for a bath. They kept on going, because they had faith, in what she didn't know. Jada seemed to have faith that every twig had broken under Sophia's step. Carl seemed to have faith in Shane, Shane seemed to have faith in Rick. All she had were some signs taught to her by a grumpy redneck, and if the grumpy redneck had a little less faith, he probably would have noticed that the signs just weren't there anymore.

He's always told her that the most important part of hunting was patience - a fact she found ironic, considering his short temper - but sometimes there wasn't room for patience. She'd give it another day or so before she brought it up again...but waiting for Sophia to come back to the highway was like waiting for a stolen body to return itself to its grave - and they were all going to get buried if they kept sitting in the dirt.

Jada let out a breathless gasp when she saw the buck, doe eyes wide as she watched it search the ground for acorns, antlers practically brushing against the ground. Daryl would have called her sentimental, or silly, or something, but she didn't raise her bow. Just stood their with her breath caged in her throat as she watched two little children, with two little hands outstretched take one step, two steps, three. She couldn't remember hearing such a perfect silence before.

Not a bird sang, not a twig snapped. Just two little hearts, two little hands, and two serene eyes staring back at four.

The silence cracked.

One solemn shot rang through a hushed forest. She desperately reached for Jada, pulling her close. Red blood and frantic sobs.

The deer fell first.

And Carl came tumbling after.

**Sorry for the long wait for this update. This was a hell of a week (literally, it was hell week for rehearsals/the actual show for the past couple days), ended up forgoing sleep in favor of schoolwork. Didn't actually study for my SAT IIs, but I think I did better than I was expecting too (knock on wood). Of course I said that about the second SAT I took and I did like a 100 points worse in two of the sections. Ah well, it's over now, but all my attention the next couple weeks will be on college apps and writing (and homework, but that won't be as bad now that I don't have to be at rehearsal til 8 or 9 everynight). **

**Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I hope to update as soon as possible, but will try to get in a new chapter by next Monday at the latest. Hope to hear back from you guys! **

**See ya soon!**


	14. The Capricious Nature of TheWild Redneck

**Woo Chapter fourteen! At this rate I should reach the 100,000 word mark somewhere in late December of early January. Didn't have a whole lot of Daryl last chapter, hopefully that will change this one. Otherwise I don't have too much to say right now. I finished with One Acts so I should have more time to write :) **

**Anyways I hope you guys enjoy! Thanks to everyone who has followed and favorited this story. Special thanks to las131984 and redangel2463 for the reviews! **

**Chapter 14 - The Capricious Nature of The Wild Redneck**

It was weird being in a house again. A real house, with living people, that wasn't covered in blood and dust. Shane had left a couple hours ago, she'd offered to come, but he brushed her off. Something about the fewer people the better. Rick was in the room with Carl, and Lori, and Hershel. Jada was at the kitchen table with a young blonde girl, Beth, her name was Beth, who was trying in vain to earn a smile. She hadn't been this subdued since the days after Atlanta fell.

"So y'all been out there long?" Maggie asked, spoon tinkling cheerfully as she stirred sugar into black coffee. Apparently their cows weren't giving enough milk to spare on coffee, but as far as Renee was concerned coffee was coffee at this point.

She took the mug gratefully, "Since it started."

"How many of you?"

"Eleven...we're eleven now. Twelve if you count Sophia, the little girl we lost. There used to be more of us," she took a sip of her coffee, "back in Atlanta."

"What happened?" Maggie asked, pouring sugar into her own coffee. She was really very pretty, about Renee's age with short brown hair and brilliant, pale eyes. She was clean. Renee had forgotten exactly how dirty she was, the layers of grime and sweat had become the norm - it's what she looked like, what her group looked like, Daryl, and Rick, and Andrea. It was weird, how normal everything was here.

"What do you think happened?" Renee's lips tightened, "We were overrun, walkers ran out of food in the city. We lost almost twenty people in one night - the others have just kinda been along the way."

Maggie grimaced into her coffee, "You got any family?"

"Just the ones I found," she smiled softly, looking to the girl picking at paint on the breakfast table. There had been three children in the group only two days ago, now it was looking like there might only be one. She felt sick, "I was visiting Atlanta...checking out a couple med schools. I don't know what happened to my family, if they died...or worse. I try not to think about it, I have Jada now, you know?"

"You might still find them," Maggie said encouragingly, "Things'll get better, they'll be right again."

How familiar that sounded. "You've got a lot of hope."

"We have to." Maggie set the coffee down, on the counter, "I'm going down the barn, feed the horses. You could come if you aren't too tired."

Renee shook her head, "I should get Jada to bed. It's late, she's had a long day."

"Beth showed you where the guest room was?" Maggie asked, grabbing a flashlight. Renee nodded, and went to sit with Beth and Jada as Maggie headed out the door. She spoke to Beth as she finished her coffee, eyes trailing to the window every once in a while, watching the drive for signs of headlights. Apparently Beth was a senior at Fayette County Public High School, was a soloist in all state choir, and had plans to major in elementary education.

That seemed to be the theme with the Greene girl, everything was phrased as 'I am' instead of 'I was'. She didn't have the heart or the energy to try and correct them. No one was coming, Jenner had said it loud and clear, they were alone.

Jada was practically asleep already when Renee picked her up, and carried her off to bed. The little girl sunk into the mattress, black curls sprawling out over the pillow - little plastic butterflies getting smothered in between. She groaned quietly, grimacing as Renee pulled the comforter around her. She pushed it back off.

"Hot," she muttered, squinching her eyes tight. Renee smiled, adjusting the covers around her so she wouldn't burn up. Running a hand over her cheek, Renee stood up. She was about to leave when Jada said something she hadn't said in over a month, "I miss my mommy."

Renee sat back down, "I know sweetie." It had been so long since Jada had mentioned her family, actually to be honest Renee didn't really know a lot about Jada's life before. She was a dancer and a swimmer, she had a big, and as far as she could tell, loving family. Otherwise the past wasn't something she'd ever brought up with her, "What was her name? Your mommy?"

"Diana Miller." She emphasized each syllable, playing with the words on her tongue, "What was yours?"

"Susan." She kissed Jada's forehead, "Get some sleep, sweetie, love you." She blinked at how easily that had come out.

"Love you too," Jada mumbled as if it were routine, and rolled into her pillow. The smile on her lips was warm, spreading down into her chest with each breath as she blew out the candle, kissed Jada one last time, and left her to sleep.

* * *

><p>By the second cup of coffee the caffeine had effectively spread through her limbs, but hadn't quite reached her brain. She couldn't stay still, but her eyes were drooping, she paced back and forth every once in a while, tapped her foot, drummed her fingers, mussed her hair. Why hadn't the group gotten here yet? Why wasn't Shane back yet? Lori had come in and out of Carl's room looking tired. Renee only got glimpses of Rick, but he looked like hell.<p>

At this point she kind of wished she hadn't had the coffee, kind of wished that Daryl were here - that she could close her eyes, let her head fall to his chest, and just sleep. She paused, wondering why that was the first thing that came to mind, why he was the first thing that came to mind, when the flash of headlights through the window caught her attention.

"Lori!" She called, as she rushed out onto the porch. As much as she wanted to see Daryl, to see Andrea, and Dale - they needed Shane to be back. She was hoping for Otis' faded blue truck, for the respirator that would save a little boy, that would save Jada's friend. It wasn't Shane though, and it wasn't the group - at least not all of it. Glenn was supporting a considerably healthier looking T-Dog. She'd given him some of the painkillers from the CVS, but she didn't have anything that would have been really helpful - she was surprised he was looking so good.

"The others?" She asked, as she hugged each of them, she didn't think she had too much of a reason to be worried. They didn't look sad enough for someone else to have died.

"They're staying on the highway tonight, gonna leave some supplies incase Sophia comes back," Glenn explained and she nodded, "How's Carl?"

She bit her lip, "I don't know...Hershel, the man who owns this farm, he's going to have to operate...they need supplies Shane went to get them -"

"And he hasn't come back yet?" T-Dog asked, and Renee shook her head. From the way the Grimes' had been carrying themselves, she didn't think he had much time left. Lori stepped out on the porch, her face falling when she saw who it was - who it wasn't. She hugged each of them as they came up the steps, they muttered condolences, and together they all walked in so Daryl and T-Dog could meet the Greenes.

Glenn blinked when he first saw Maggie, she didn't blame him - she was gorgeous. So was Beth, but Beth was also seventeen. Hershel welcomed them in, offered to take T-Dog back to get his arm stitched. Apparently Daryl had had some pretty heavy duty antibiotics on hand, they were Merle's. The clap, Glenn explained with a suppressed smile. Honestly it didn't surprise her based on the number of times he'd tried to hook up with her in the month or so she'd known him...ah yes, Merle Dixon, the man whore.

With T-Dog off with Hershel - the Greene sisters, Patricia, Renee, and Glenn sat down at the breakfast table in the kitchen. She could have gone to bed now, she knew the others wouldn't be coming tonight, and whether or not she was awake wouldn't affect Shane's success. But she felt like she should anyway, provide what little moral support she could.

"So what was it like?" Beth asked, "Going from college to the apocalypse?"

"I don't know," Renee said with a smile, "wasn't that big of a change. They're pretty similar actually. I eat a lot of ramen, don't get enough sleep, and it's a bitch to do laundry." The five of them laughed, trying to keep the volume down so they wouldn't disturb the grieving family in the other room. Each hour that passed was another that she questioned if Shane would make it back in time.

It was already leaning into the early hours of the morning, and they'd cut off the coffee, it wasn't like you could just go out to the store to buy more. Crawling into a warm bed with Jada sounded just about perfect right now. She could practically feel the bags under her eyes, and all of them were yawning every few seconds. Patricia excused herself to go check on the Grimes', she was looking more and more nervous as the night went on. Her husband was out there too.

The rumble of tires on gravel caught their attention, headlights appeared in the distance, and suddenly everyone was calling for Lori, for Hershel. Footsteps pounded out onto the porch as the truck screeched to a halt. Shane stumbled out of the driver's seat.

He was alone, and coated in blood with a frenzied look in his eye, but he had the bag. Lori ran up and threw her arms around his neck and something softened in them. Patricia had realized Otis wasn't coming back. Shane was still breathing heavily as he looked at the people watching him, in some weird way he looked small, like a cornered animal.

He didn't say anything as he passed the bag to Hershel, and dragged himself up to the bathroom.

* * *

><p>Lori didn't stay in the room while Hershel dug the last of the shrapnel out of Carl's abdomen. Rick would have been told to leave too if he weren't the blood donor. So Renee stayed up with her, holding her hand and drinking tea Maggie had made them before she went off to her room herself. Shane took hours in the bathroom, it was nearly five in the morning when he came back down the stairs. He'd shaved his head, weird time for a haircut, a geek must have grabbed at his hair or something - she would have been pretty freaked by that too.<p>

He didn't stay in the kitchen with them, opting to go sit out on the porch instead. Lori watched him go, but didn't follow. Carl's room was so quiet, every once in a while they'd hear Hershel's gentle voice, but otherwise the house was filled with the type of quiet that makes your ears ring.

The sun was just starting to come up when Hershel came out of the room, followed by Patricia and a very haggard looking Rick. She could feel Lori's breath stop, as a hand gripped tighter around her own. Shane came back in as soon as he heard people moving around inside, hand going to hair he no longer had as they watched Hershel for news.

"He'll pull through," the old man said with a smile. Lori laughed, jumping up to hug her husband, "He'll be asleep for a while, but you can go see him." Lori nodded thankfully, and helped a visibly weak Rick back into their son's room. Shane watched them go. Hershel nodded to the people left in the kitchen - T-Dog had gone to rest on the couch, Glenn was technically still there, though he'd nodded off about an hour ago - and headed upstairs to wash up.

"You did a good thing," she said to Shane, and he looked up at her. He seemed so tired, "They're lucky they have you."

He just nodded, and made his way to stand at the threshold of Carl's room. Just watching.

The familiar roar of a motorcycle made her look up. They were coming. She kicked Glenn awake, and half stumbled out onto the porch as the cars rolled to a stop and Daryl dismounted from his bike. She was struggling to keep her eyes open as she made her way down the stairs and fell into his arms. She'd been awake for a good forty eight hours now, it was nice just to have someone to hold onto.

Daryl couldn't help but stiffen when she leaned into him, but he couldn't help but hold her either. One arm crossed her back to grip her shoulder, the other wrapped around her waist as he brought her close. He wasn't going to admit it, especially not to her, but the first thing that came to mind when he heard that single shot was a bullet in her head. She was still very much here, skull intact, if looking like she'd gotten hit by a truck.

She'd stepped out of that house looking like she may as well have been dead. How long had it been since she'd slept? He could feel her yawn into his chest, and he let out the breath he'd been holding since last night. Since when had he cared about her so much anyways? Wasn't a thought he was going to bother with right now, instead he just pressed his nose into hair.

"Carl?" He asked quietly.

"He's going to be okay." Good, didn't need to be losing anymore kids.

"And Jada?" He pulled back slightly, still keeping a loose hold on her, so he could see her face. There were dark circles under puffy eyes, and she looked paler than normal - which was hard considering her normal skin tone wasn't far off from the 'toilet paper straight from the package' look.

"Shaken up, but she's okay. She's still asleep...I think." She gave him a half hearted smile, and he nodded, dropping his gaze. "Any leads on Sophia?" She asked, her voice cracking slightly from exhaustion.

He shook his head, "Was gonna go looking for her in an hour or so, once we get settled."

"I'll come with," she said, and he almost laughed. There was no way in hell he was letting her go anywhere other than bed right now.

"Uh-uh, Sunshine. We're getting you some sleep, you can come out with me tomorrow." He kept his hand on her arm as he lead her towards the stairs. They stopped a couple times so she could say hello to Andrea, and Dale, and the others, but he kept urging her back up to the house. They'd still be there when she woke up. Daryl couldn't say he was the best at taking care of himself, but at least he knew when he'd pushed his limit. Renee seemed to think she was superwoman or some shit. He was scared that was gonna get her killed one day.

"I need to get Jada up, she needs breakfast," she fought to get the words out through a yawn, and he shook his head as she lead him back into the guest room where Jada was sleeping.

"You need to go to bed, Renee," he said, "I'll get the kid some food, just sleep before you fall over or something. You're making me nervous teetering around like that."

"I didn't know Daryl Dixon could be nervous," she teased, smiling at him.

He rolled his eyes, "Just lay down, Red. This is paying you back for taking watch for me the other night. I'll take care of the kid."

It had taken a little while for Renee to get Jada to wake up, but once she was out of bed and staggering out the door towards the smell of fresh baked biscuits Renee was practically falling into the bed. He waited until she'd pulled the covers up, and closed her eyes before he left her alone and went to make sure the kid got fed.

* * *

><p>The older lady in the house, her name might have started with a 'P', was setting out a breakfast buffet of some kind. Biscuits, bacon, eggs. Everyone was out in the kitchen talking and laughing, it was a good day, Carl wasn't dead. Only the Grimes' and Walsh weren't out with everyone else. He assumed they were probably back with Carl.<p>

Jada had seated herself at the table, head down, one arm dangling by her side, the other being used as a pillow. Alright, breakfast. He found a plate, put a biscuit and some bacon on it, and added a decently sized helping of eggs on the side. He had no idea what she liked, but they didn't exactly have a ton of options, and he didn't feel like dealing with some sleepy kid's picky attitude. There was some jelly though, kids like sweet shit didn't they? He smeared some on top of the biscuit, not bothering to cut it first, and went to set it down in front of Jada.

"Here," he mumbled, and she looked up at him.

"What'd you do to the biscuit?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at the plate.

What kind of question was that? "Put jelly on it…"

"Why's it on top?" She poked at it like it was gonna bite her something.

"Just eat it, girl. It's gonna taste the same when it's in your mouth," he said, waiting for her to take a bite of something. She did, somewhat begrudgingly, and he decided he'd done his job and went off to get his own food. By the time he sat down across from Jada, some of the others had started to sit as well - some out on the porch, others at the kitchen table, a few went into the dining room. Carol had taken the seat next to Jada, picking at her own plate of eggs.

"You've got jelly on your nose," Carol said, taking a napkin and wiping the little girl's face. "Now why on earth would you put all that jelly on top of your biscuit?" The woman took on a playful tone, the first real smile he'd seen since Sophia was lost crossing her face.

"I dunno, Daryl did it!" She said, giving him her best 'see I told you it was weird' face.

Carol looked up at him and laughed, "Why didn't you just cut the biscuit?"

He shrugged, "I dunno." It was nice to see her laugh again.

* * *

><p>It was morning when she woke up, pretty early morning from the looks of it. How long had she been asleep? A soft snore came from beside her, and she rolled to see Jada, cuddled up with Franklin. Dale must have brought the bear for her at some point, it had been left in the RV back before all this happened. She'd need to go find him later, get their tent set up, she didn't want to impose on the Greenes any longer.<p>

It was a difficult decision, getting out of bed. It had been a while since she'd been in one, or at least one where she wasn't sharing with half the group.

It took a pretty normal amount of time to get Jada up (a.k.a, a pretty damn long while), and out of the house and down to camp. Everyone was seated on fold out chairs or the ground, with plates of eggs on their laps. She blinked, someone had set her tent up for her. Quietly thankful she wolfed down her own plate of eggs, went into the RV and start moving her and Jada's things back into their tent. It would be nice to have a space of their own again.

The sleeping bags had just been rolled out when she heard footsteps behind her.

"Did you do this?" She asked, gesturing up to the tent and turning to Daryl. He nodded. "Thank you." Maybe she sleep all day more often.

"Was gonna go out, look for Sophia. You wanna come?" She nodded, grabbed her bow. Said goodbye to Jada, and asked Carol to keep an eye out for her, and then the pair of them headed off into the woods.

* * *

><p>They'd been walking for a while now. Daryl had been going on about heading back to a house he'd found yesterday, he thought Sophia must have slept there. They were going to go see if she'd gone back, try to pick up a trail if she hadn't. Daryl was slightly in front of her, crossbow over his back. She couldn't help but notice how broad his shoulders were, the way they sloped down to a narrow waist, and to be honest she'd caught herself looking at his ass more than once. She didn't know what was wrong with her today.<p>

It was pretty quiet most of the trip, he'd never really been much of a talker. He'd make comments here or there, but generally they just shared comfortable silence as they tramped through the woods. This was nice, actually, they hadn't been able to do this since Atlanta. They were hunting a little girl instead of deer and squirrels, but it was nice to just have some semblance of normalcy again.

The house was set in a little grass yard, with a drive heading towards the main road. It was cute, white washed and trimmed in hunter green. Quaint was a good word for it, it was quaint, like it had been a bed and breakfast or something before. He led her up the steps and in the front door, crossbow up, as they poked around the house.

"Sophia!" He called once they were sure no dead had wandered in. No response. He took her around, showed her the can of sardines she'd eaten, the closet where she'd slept. Still there was no sign of the girl herself. She had to admit if nothing else Daryl was persistent, if anyone was going to find her it would be him.

"Have you considered going to look for Merle?" She asked, leaning against the counter while he went through his bag for the can of chef boyardee spaghetti he'd brought them for lunch.

"Yeah," he set the can down next to her, "Thought about it."

"Are you going to? I mean after we sort this whole Sophia thing out, this would make a good place to come back to, the group would still be here. If you really wanted to, we could find him."

He shook his head, "I don't think the welcome mat's gonna be rolled out all that long. If he's out there we'll find him eventually, no use chasin dead trails."

"If you ever do go find him, as long as the group's settled down somewhere that Jada will be safe... I want to come with. I owe you and Merle that much."

He popped open the can, eyes wandering down from her eyes to her wrist. The faintest traces of green still tinged the skin where he'd grabbed her, "I'm sorry."

She gave a toothless smile and shook her head, "Daryl, I've seen you try to kill people over Merle," she laughed, "I think I got off easy." He didn't seem to find it so funny, "Daryl I know you're sorry, I forgave you a long time ago." She grabbed a fork from the silverware drawer she'd found earlier and pulled out some pasta, "I don't get why you can't. I mean you tried to stab Rick, and I don't see you gettin all fussy over that."

"That's different," he said, taking a bite himself.

"How?"

He wouldn't meet her eyes, "I dunno it was Rick…"

She smirked, "You got something against Rick?" She teased.

"No," he said through a mouthful of spaghetti.

"Alright then how's it different?" She asked, taking her turn at fishing for noodles.

He was quiet for a while before bright blue eyes met hers, "Cause it was you."

* * *

><p>They'd finished their spaghetti in silence. He kept his eyes on anything that wasn't her, and she couldn't stop looking at him. What the hell did he mean 'cause it was her'?<p>

He'd wandered around outside, looking for footprints - nothing, it'd been dry recently, and the ground here was pretty hard. They'd wander around, try to pick something up, get back before the sun went down.

Daryl had gone from walking with her in comfortable silence, to adamantly avoiding conversation. She shook her head, she was pretty sure he had almost ten years on her, but sometimes he reminded her more of a kid than a grown man. Whatever, she wasn't going to deal with it right now, walking corpses and missing children were more important than the capricious nature of the wild redneck.

So far she wasn't seeing anything, there were broken twigs - but there were also tufts of fur and hoof prints, a deer not a girl. There were a lot of trees, the occasional little clearing, and a healthy scattering of pine cones. It was hot, part of her was hoping summer would just go ahead and end soon, the other part had a feeling her first winter without heating would be just as brutal as her first summer without A/C. She was getting tired, and honestly bored now that Daryl had awkwarded his way out of any attempt at conversation, so there was nothing more exciting to her than the sudden appearance of a pond in a little clearing off to their right.

Without telling him what she was doing, she marched off through the underbrush, and towards the water. It had been a long time since the CDC, a long time since she'd had anything resembling a bath, and Shane had hogged the shower the night before.

"Where the hell you going?" He called out once he noticed she wasn't trailing along behind him. She pulled her shirt over her head, dropping it at the waters edge and was going for her pants when he yelled again, "Renee!"

"I'm going swimming Daryl!" She called back as she wriggled out of her jeans. She could practically see the huffy expression he was wearing as he stalked up behind her, "You should join me," she turned and smiled at the red forming on his cheeks, he wouldn't look up at her, "I'm gonna be honest here, you kinda smell like something you dragged out of the woods."

"Fuck you, Red," he muttered, but she was pretty sure she saw a hint of a smile on his lips.

She stepped backwards into the water, relishing the cool, clean feel of water on her feet, her calves, her hips, "C'mon! I don't want to swim alone."

He shook his head, "Don't wanna get wet."

"Oh for Christ's sake you won't melt! C'mon what are you so afraid of? Your arms look like a Greek statue, the rest can't be that bad." Oh god did that just come out of her mouth? What was wrong with her today?

"No." He said, sitting on the shore as she waded deeper.

"Please," she whined, slapping her hands on the surface of the water. "Please, please, please, please-"

"Fucking hell, Red, fine," he growled, standing up and gripping the hem of his shirt, "Just turn around her something." She rolled her eyes, but obliged, turning and diving under the surface. It was nice just to be in water again, she missed the quarry - maybe she'd bring Jada out here sometime. She came back up to the surface, treading out in the deep water near the center. Daryl was already chest deep, she was right, it was nice. Something was written on his chest, she squinted, swimming closer just as it disappeared under the water.

"Uh-uh back up," she stood, putting her hands on his chest and pushing him back, "Does that say Norman?"

"Yeah," he muttered, stepping past her and sinking neck deep under the water.

She giggled, "Why?"

A bit of a smile twisted his lips, "Dunno, got hammered one night, woke up with it."

She laughed, and he laughed with her, he was starting to relax again, "So what'cha wanna do?" She asked swimming up close to him again. "We could play marco polo."

"Pfft, we ain't playing marco polo."

"C'mon we should do something!" She said, suddenly jumping away and into a backstroke, "I made you get in so you pick."

"I pick we get back out," he deadpanned, and she splashed him. He looked at her for a second, hair dripping, and then a smile spread across his lips, and he splashed back hard.

"Hey!" She half shrieked half laughed, sending another wave of water his way. They were both laughing, though she was getting pond water in her mouth every time she breathed. She coughed trying to get it out of her nose, before diving under. She kicked her way through the dark till she found his legs, and quickly grabbed him, climbing up a bit before she finally had a vice grip around his waist.

"Dammit, Red, get off!" He laughed, she just giggled and slipped around so she was behind him, legs wrapping around him. She couldn't stand here anyway, he was in to his neck, she would have had a good three inches of water over her head. He reached around to grab her, fingers tickling her ribs and she shrieked as he dragged the pair of them towards shallower water.

"Daryl!" She gasped through another laugh, "Daryl stop!" She broke down in giggles again, desperately trying to cling to him. He gripped her arm, and pulled her around off his back, holding her partly out of the water - he was only just deeper than his waist - one arm around her, the other hand still on her arm. His face was so close to hers, brilliant blue eyes intent on hers.

Everything was quiet except the heavy of sound of their breath, in and out, in and out. His gaze trailed down from her eyes to her nose, her lips. Her heart bucked in her chest.

His hands were hot against her skin, every nerve alive where he was touching her. Her tongue traced her lower lip. He was so close.

Something growled, "Daryl!" She jumped down from his grasp as a walker staggered into the water. She suddenly had the horrible realization that it was between them and their weapons. He pushed her behind him, as it staggered closer. Her eyes flitted down and her brow furrowed, a black tattoo was inked down his shoulder blade and back - but that's not what caught her attention. She suddenly realized why he'd been so reluctant to take off his shirt. Eight or nine thick, ropy scars arced over his back. They were relatively straight, and looked like they'd been there a long while.

There was a loud splash as the walker fell belly first into the water, "Go!" Daryl yelled, pushing her to swim for the far side of the pond. It flailed after them, but wasn't coordinated enough to swim through the deep water. They scrambled up the shore on the other side, ran around the pond, and grabbed their bows. There was no point though, the thing was starting to sink hands thrashing against the water as it struggled to reach them. After a moment it was nothing but ripples.

She wouldn't be taking Jada swimming after all.

They stood their, bows raised, panting. Daryl in just his jeans, Renee in her underwear. Eventually he let his crossbow fall to his side, grabbed his shirt, and growled at her to get dressed and hurry up. It was a struggle getting her jeans on over we legs, but pretty soon she was jogging after him. The good mood he'd so briefly been in was gone.

She didn't know if he knew she'd seen his scars. She wouldn't bring it up though, if he wanted her to know he would tell her.

**Woo chapter 14, plenty of Daryl in this chapter, and a lot of fluff too. Well I'm gonna edit this, I'm gonna post it, then I'm gonna take a nap...who needs to do homework? Hahaha anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed, and I hope to hear back from you guys! I'll try to update as soon as possible.**

**See ya soon!**


	15. Schroedinger's Cat

**Alrighty chapter 15! Depending on how long this one is I should be reaching 70,000 words with this one. We're just kinda chugging along through season 2, looks like this is going to be where the basis for a romantic relationship between Renee and Daryl is going to be forming - so I guess just be on the look out for cute shit here and there hahaha. **

**Thanks so much to everyone who has favorited and followed this story. Special thanks to Inkandtrees, Starcrier, Teacup, sillygabby, and redangel2463 for the reviews. **

**Chapter 15 - Schroedinger's Cat**

Glenn hadn't looked this happy since the quarry, he was pretty good at putting on the 'all's fine and dandy' face, but today he was absolutely glowing. She'd been trying to figure it out ever since she and Daryl got back from the pond, nothing that great had happened that she knew of. He was sitting in one of the fold out chairs, smiling to himself like he'd just won the lottery or something. Renee was across from him, just kind of watching.

Wasn't like she had much else to do. Jada was taking a nap, and Daryl had just kind of vanished. They'd almost kissed today, she could have sworn it, and the really weird thing was that she wouldn't have minded if they had. Actually she got butterflies thinking about it, his lips on hers, the feel of his scruff against her chin, warm hands holding her close. She shook her head, she needed to stop thinking about this shit. This wasn't a romance novel, it was the end of the world.

Even if there was anything, even if he wanted to kiss her too...one of them was going to die one day, one day that was coming sooner than she would like. She couldn't figure out if she would be better off knowing or not once that day came. She guessed it just depended on who died first.

She was stuck with this god damn inner turmoil, and then there was Glenn. Happy as a fucking clam. She just couldn't figure it out. As far as she knew they hadn't found Sophia, hadn't discovered the cure for being a corpse, the only thing could have been if - no. The two of them watched Maggie walk up from the barn, and her gaze slowly went back to Glenn. No, no way.

She leapt up, grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him into the RV, "Renee what the hell?" He gasped as she shut the door. She could see T-Dog peering curiously at the window.

"You fucked Maggie?" Her jaw was still half way to the floor as she looked at him.

That dumb grin snuck back onto his face and she smacked his arm, "You've known her for two days Glenn!" He started to protest and she smacked him again, "Two days!

"She wanted to," he defended himself.

"Yeah that's fucking great, but now you're wandering around like a love sick puppy!"

The smile faded and he blinked, "I am?"

"Yes!" She said, it was so obvious she was surprised the walkers weren't lining up to give them flowers before they ate the new happy couple.

"Is that a problem?"

"Yes! Do you think it's a good idea to get into a relationship with her right now? We don't know if we're staying here, shit we don't even know who's going to get to wake up tomorrow. If you fuck this up, we might lose her support, we might lose this farm. And let me tell you something Glenn, I don't want to lose this farm." There was a little girl taking a nap in their tent who would have a much nicer time growing up with cows than corpses.

"But I think I really like her, she's-"

"Yes, Glenn she's very pretty, but have some self control man!" She snapped, but he still had that star struck look in his eyes.

"Oh like you have self control with Daryl?" His smile suddenly took on a mischievous twist, and he bit at his lower lip. Oh no, was it that obvious? If Glenn could tell...no there was nothing to tell, nothing was going to happen, she and Daryl were just friends. That wasn't something she needed to get herself into for most of the same reasons Glenn shouldn't be getting himself involved with Maggie.

"There's absolutely nothing to me and Daryl." She said firmly, and he just nodded along though she knew he wasn't convinced, she wasn't all that convinced either, "I can't tell you what to do with Maggie, if you like her you like her, just don't fuck it up okay. I really don't want to go back out on the road."

Glenn gave his best 'yes ma'am' nod, and she rolled her eyes at him.

"So you're absolutely sure there's nothing going on with you and the redneck?" Glenn asked with a smile, "No weird backwoods soul connections?"

"I'm not from the backwoods, Glenn, I lived in upper middle class suburbia."

"Yeah, but like, you're an honorary member. You've still got the twang, and you went mudding in your free time - so like redneck soul connections are still possible, you know," he giggled a bit at his own jokes, god he was such a dweeb, "honeymoons off in the woods feeding eachother raw squirrels, drinking moonshine and shooting things."

She laughed and shook her head, "Fuck you, Glenn."

"Already got that taken care of," Glenn bit his lip to stop the grin from coming back, and she hit him harder than before. He yelped bringing a hand up to his abused arm.

"Speaking of Daryl, have you seen him? He just kinda went AWOL all of a sudden, was gonna ask him if we could make a run sometime, I'm running out of arrows...keep losing them."

"I think Rick mentioned something about him going out looking for Sophia," Glenn said, "Borrowed a horse."

"He went alone?" She shook her head, of course he did. If he was nothing else Daryl was stubborn, when he wanted to do something he was gonna do it, and if that meant he was going to do it by himself then so be it. Still if he was so desperate to go back out he could have come found her, she would have gone with, he knew that. Some small part of her wondered if he was having the same issue she was, if he'd felt it too when he held her in the water. If he had the smallest bit of sense he'd've know it was a bad idea too, wouldn't he?

"Yeah, I think so," Glenn said, then smiled, "You worried?"

"No," she glared at him, "Daryl can take care of himself just fine." She shook her head, "I should probably go do some laundry, Jada's running out of clothes for the week."

She stepped out into the sunlight, and sighed. She might as well get work done while she could, no point in getting herself worried about Daryl or Glenn.

A few minutes later she had gathered her and Jada's laundry, there hadn't been any time to do it while they were out on the road, it had piled up pretty fast. She had considered asking Daryl if he needed anything washed, but now that was just out of the question...it was far too...domestic.

There was something relaxing about washing clothes. Sure it was a hell of a lot easier back when they had machines, but it was kind of nice just to scrub things clean, and feel the cool water on her hands. It was time where she could think or not think as she pleased. Though she figured it would be a lot less pleasant once winter came around, maybe they'd start heating the water before they washed the clothes - try to avoid frostbite...did it get that cold down here? She honestly wasn't even sure if that was a problem back in North Carolina, she'd never had to go through a winter without heating.

She'd need to find Jada a warm winter coat too, they spent a lot of time outside these days.

Another pile of laundry plopped down beside her, and Lori sat down around the tub of murky water. Renee frowned, she looked kind of sick. Though she'd had a pretty hard couple of days, Renee wouldn't exactly be feeling in tip top shape either in her position. She wasn't sure if she should bring it up or not, Lori just looked so tired. So they scrubbed clothes together in silence, until Lori said something that broke it.

"I'm pregnant."

How the hell was she supposed to respond to something like that? Her tongue tied itself in knots as she searched for words. Was she supposed to say congratulations? Was she supposed to say sorry? She settled on throwing her arms around her, and Lori leaned into the hug, sighing heavily. Here she was worrying about the implications of her feelings towards Daryl...Lori was pregnant, there was so much there to lose.

It made Renee's problems feel silly.

"Does Rick know?" She asked, not letting Lori go.

She shook her head, "You're the only one - I needed to tell someone. Glenn got me the test, but I haven't told him the results." A shaky breath cooled the skin on Renee's shoulder, "Please don't tell anyone. I'm not ready yet...I just need some time. I need some time to think."

It suddenly occurred to her that Lori might not even know if Rick was the father. She almost brought it up, almost...Lori didn't know she knew, that she'd spoken to Shane about it. So instead she brought up the more practical problems, "You're going to need stuff, right? Vitamins?"

"I don't even know if I'm going to keep it," Lori shook her head, "I'm going to send Glenn into town later, pick some things up."

Renee nodded slowly. What a horrible day for happy news.

"You know you can talk to me, or come to me, whatever you need. I'm here."

Lori gave her a soft smile, "That sounds familiar."

"Promise me. If you need anything, you'll ask," she offered the smile back, "I understand if you're not ready to tell Rick, but you shouldn't have to go through this alone. Even if you just need to rant at someone," she laughed slightly, "I can make a very good punching bag."

"Promise."

* * *

><p>He'd needed to get away from camp, from the farm, from her. Just for a little while he needed to be able to clear his head before he started thinking - thinking wasn't going to go well for him right now. So far avoiding all this shit had been pretty successful, he had four squirrels, clean shots pinned right to the trees. He never even had to get off the horse.<p>

He and Merle had ridden a lot when they were little, their uncle had a couple of Walking Horses he took out on trails all the time. This one was a Quarter Horse, he was pretty sure, and he was kind of missing the smooth pace of the Walkers. He didn't want to believe he'd already lost that much of his skill in the saddle - though 'already' was a good fifteen years.

No matter how hard he tried to push her out of his mind, he kept seeing her lips. Kept seeing her smile, and her soft brown eyes. He shook his head, that wasn't something he needed to be getting into. Not with her, not with anyone, he just had to keep his space.

He was so lost in not thinking that he almost forgot why he'd actually gone out there in the first place. He sighed, looking out over the ground for footprints, the trees for broken branches, the river for...a doll. He hardly had time to process it before the horse squealed, and suddenly the saddle wasn't under him anymore. He hit the ground with a thud, and then another and another. Everything passed in a blur, spiraling and turning, and then it stopped. Skin tore as he slid down bare rock, and finally slid to a halt.

It felt like a bunch of guys had taken a baseball bat to his ribs, his side, his head. He coughed, trying to ignore the bright scarlet color spreading through the water. It was hard to ignore the arrow though as he struggled to push himself up, he groaned when he saw the blood covered point protruding through his side. Hopefully hadn't hit anything too important.

He'd gone swimming two more times than he'd expected to today. The first one had been a lot more fun.

His crossbow, he was going to need his crossbow. He pulled hissed as he slid into the water, kicking his feet along the bottom till he found the familiar shape amongst the rocks. He winced with every large movement, as he sloshed his way out of the water. The embankment on either side was steep, tall too, it would have been a hell of a job climbing up even if hadn't fallen all the way down first.

With a grunt he slung his crossbow over his back, dug his fingers into the dirt and started climbing. Every time his abdomen flexed, every time he lifted or pulled he felt his muscles contract around the arrow. This was going to be a bitch. He had to get to the top, wasn't really in his plan today to just lay down and die. She'd probably kill him if he did.

He was almost there when his hand missed the tree he was grabbing for, and he was thrown back into a spiraling whorl of leaves and dirt, and then everything went black.

Things were fuzzy when he came to. He blinked a few times, trying to make heads or tails of the colors that danced over his head. Leaves, trees, sky...and someone else. He groaned, head pounding as he tried to shift his weight.

"Merle?" He just managed to get the words out, coughing as he did.

"Good morning baby brother!" Merle grinned, slapping him on the shoulder. He winced, "Good to see you got your pretty ass up finally."

"How the hell did you get here?" Daryl asked, the world was still fading in and out. Merle wouldn't stay steady, kept tilting this way then that way. Daryl tried to reach out a hand, tried to pull himself up, but his muscles wouldn't work right.

"That's not the important question baby brother, why are you here?"

"Looking for a little girl," Daryl grunted, trying again to move at all. Nothing, but he suddenly felt pretty damn nauseous. There was no way in hell he was going to hurl in front of his brother. Merle wouldn't let him forget it for months. "Sophia, she's lost."

Merle laughed, "Now why the hell you doing that? What have any of them ever done for you?" He crouched down next to Daryl's head "You think any of them actually care about you, little brother?"

"Shut up," Daryl growled.

"What, you think that little redhead gives a shit if you get back to that farm or not? They left me, you think they'll care if you're gone too? We ain't people to them, boy - just white trash they got smear off their fancy ass boots."

"We went back for you. We went back -"

"And a lotta good that did," Merle said raising his hands. Hands, plural, he wasn't real. "What do you think you're gonna get out of this Daryl? Respect?" He laughed, "Applause? A little bit of pussy from your sweetheart?"

"Fuck you!" He snapped, voice cracking as he lunged for Merle, hand closing around his throat. Merle snarled, teeth turning black, skin starting to peel as his eyes clouded over. Daryl cried out, shoving the walker back and scrambling to grab at anything. It gurgled as it crawled up over him, gnashing its teeth and smiling at the prospect of food. Something splashed, and the blurry form of another walker appeared around the bend in the creek.

He grunted as he swung the rock around onto the walker's head once, twice, three times, and shoved it off. The second was taken out with a bolt to the eye, and he was left panting in the shallows. He needed to get back to her.

* * *

><p>The sun was getting awful close to setting and Daryl still hadn't come back. She frowned, watching the tree line for a horse to heading back to the farm. Nothing. She kept herself busy with laundry, playing with Jada, she even tried to help Carol cook dinner - she got sent away after she burnt the first batch of eggs, which apparently were going to be her dinner for the night. At least T-Dog seemed excited, he liked his eggs extra well done.<p>

Daryl could take care of himself, she knew that, still the later it got the less she could deny that she was worried. He was persistent, but he couldn't possibly have been looking for Sophia for that long. Could he? She shook her head and tried to focus, Jada was doing math work - just addition stuff. So far she wasn't having a lot of problems, but Renee should probably being paying attention, make sure she didn't make a mistake.

"Walker!" Andrea yelled, and everyone stopped to look. One lone figure was staggering in from the woods. She relaxed a bit, it was only one - they could deal with just one.

"Why don't you do the next few problems on your own, okay sweetie?" Renee said and headed over to the RV. Andrea already had the rifle aimed. Rick, Shane, and T-Dog were running down the field towards it. "You probably shouldn't waste the bullets." Renee commented.

"I got this," Andrea brushed her off.

"Yeah so do they, and they've got machetes. We don't have to go find new blades for those every time we use them." Renee grumbled. One bullet really wouldn't hurt, but she wasn't so sure Andrea could make it in one shot. At least not without hitting someone important, Rick and the others were too close.

"I'm a good shot. I won't waste more than I need to," Andrea said, not taking her eyes off her target. Renee shook her head, no point in arguing. She was about to turn around when she noticed something odd about the walker, she narrowed her eyes, it was carrying something. Walkers didn't carry things. It suddenly hit her exactly who was walking through that field.

Rick and the others had stopped around him, Daryl swayed slightly, crossbow grazing the ground, "Andrea, don't!" She said a moment too late, and he crumpled to the ground. "Daryl!" She screamed, vaulting the fence and sprinting down through the field towards the four men.

She didn't have to wonder anymore. Not knowing was far far worse.

She could hear Andrea's footsteps coming up behind her as she slid to the ground next to him. Rick and Shane already had their arms under his, ready to pull him up, "Is he alive?" She asked desperately, looking between the cops and Daryl. He was soaked in blood, most of it coming from his side. "Is he alive!?"

"He's alive," Rick assured her.

"Oh thank God," Andrea sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"C'mon we need to get him to the house," Rick said, as they hoisted an unconscious Daryl up to his feet. She felt like she should be running still, she felt like they needed to be going faster as she struggled to keep her pace even with theirs. She bit her lip nervously looking at him, he was alive, but how much longer would that be the case? There was a lot of blood. How much blood was too much blood? How much had he left behind somewhere else?

Hershel was already out on the porch as they dragged Daryl up the stairs, feet thumping against each step, "Bring him in this way," Hershel said, opening the door for them to bring him in. "Patricia!" He called, "I'm going to need you!"

Daryl was carried into the room where Renee had slept the night before, she only just got a glimpse of him as Shane helped Hershel pull off Daryl's shirt, and then Patricia rushed in and shut the door. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to follow or not. So she paced up and down the hall listening to the urgency in the voices on the other side of the wall. He heart dropped each time someone exited the room, T-Dog, Shane, Rick.

Each one was less helpful than the last. It was like Schroedinger's Cat, put an injured redneck in a box and wait a while. Was it alive, was it dead? She didn't fucking know, and it was killing her.

"Dinner's ready," Carol had appeared at the end of the hall, nervously wringing her hands through a damp towel.

"I'm not hungry," Renee brushed her off, leaning against the wall between a gold cross and a family portrait.

"I don't think T-Dog can eat all those burnt eggs on his own," Carol said with a halfhearted smile, she waited for some sort of response from Renee, and when she didn't get one she tried again, "You know he'd be mad at you for missing dinner, not taking care of yourself isn't going to make him any better."

"I'm just not hungry, okay?" Renee grumbled.

"Jada's worried," Carol pressed, and Renee's lips tightened. Jada and Daryl weren't exactly close, but she knew she liked him, he'd just been dragged past her looking half dead. Any kid would be worried. She took a long, shaky breath, and pushed herself off the wall.

"Fine," she said, "I guess I could eat."

* * *

><p>It was another hour before Hershel came back out. Renee had been flitting back and forth between Jada and Daryl's door ever since dinner. Apparently he'd gotten a pretty nasty puncture through his side, probably fell on an arrow, had a few broken ribs, a lot of bruising. He probably had a concussion, but otherwise, barring infection, he'd be okay.<p>

It was a relief just to see him alive, asleep, but alive. He was laid out on his stomach, the black demon tattoo rising and falling with each breath - a patch was taped down over his side where the puncture was.

She cared about him, she knew that, still what the hell was she supposed to say? Hey I like your face and you make me feel fuzzy inside, I know we're probably going to die soon so there's not much of a point, but do you want to go on a date? Skin some squirrels? They were friends, they had a good thing going, even if that thing was just quietly walking through the woods. Daryl was something solid to hold onto, did she really want to risk what time she had over something like that? Still something in her kept thinking about the moment she'd watched him fall - how much she'd wished she'd just kissed him that morning.

Even if she did decide to say something...Daryl was a grumpy, closed off, 'I don't give a shit 'bout nothin', redneck. What made her think he'd want the same thing?

She shook her head, just watching his back rise and fall. The scars stretched and shone in the candlelight each time he breathed, she couldn't help but wonder how he got him. They almost looked methodical.

"You done starin?" His voice was slurred and thick, and he winced as he twisted to pull the blanket up over himself.

"Sorry," she said quickly, averting her eyes. He just grunted, blinking tiredly. "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit," he mumbled, finally just letting his eyes close.

"You shouldn't've gone alone. You could have asked me to come with you."

"Don't need no one, I was fine."

Yeah, that's just what she thought he'd say. She scoffed, "Yeah you look just peachy right now."

"Found Sophia's doll," he said, looking up at her.

"You're changing the subject," she said, a hint of a growl climbing into her voice. He'd almost died today, why the fuck was he so casual about it?

"What you want me to say, Sunshine?" He asked, pushing himself up on his elbows with a groan.

"I don't know? 'I did something stupid', 'I could've died', 'I'm sorry'?" She didn't know why she was getting worked up, he just seemed so nonchalant about it. She'd spent the past hour pacing back and forth wondering if she'd ever get to talk to him again, and he barely seemed to care.

His gaze softened, and he bit his lip, "I'm sorry...happy?" His lips were touched with the faintest hint of a smile.

"You scare the hell out of me, Daryl Dixon," she said softly, leaning her head on his shoulder and letting out a heavy sigh.

**Chapter fifteen is done! Gonna go usher a chorus concert tonight. Can't wait to hear back from you guys! Hope you enjoyed! I'll update as soon as I can. **

**See ya soon!**


	16. Smile

**Chapter sixteen! Inkandtrees brought up a couple ship names for Daryl and Renee: Daenee and Renyl. I'm personally leaning towards Renyl, what do you guys think? There's also last names, we could go with Wixon or Daller - those kind of sound like they should be reindeer hahaha. **

**Oh also, I've pulled together a kinda sorta soundtrack for this fic. It's just kind of songs that I listen to while I write and fit the mood of the story and different points. The link is on my profile. I'll be adding more music to it now and again. You guys are more than welcome to listen while you read.**

**Thanks to everyone who has followed and favorited this story (and as of me starting to write this chapter we've reached 8,000 views so wooo). Special thanks to Inkandtrees redangel2463, XXBlackfireXX, and my-forgotten-rose for the reviews! **

**Chapter 16 - Smile**

It felt like it had been years since anyone had played with her hair. She knew for a fact it had been weeks since she'd had a chance to wash it - she'd jumped to take a shower up in the house, and now she was just hoping she wouldn't have to get dirty again for a couple days. She let out a soft breath as the tingles spread from her scalp down her spine. Jada had wanted to braid hair, Renee wasn't sure how long she'd been at it, but she was more than willing to just sit back and be the guinea pig.

Hershel had let Daryl out of the house, more because he just wouldn't stop complaining than he was actually ready to be up and walking around. Renee had convinced him to at least stay off his feet most of the time. She was pretty sure he was in his tent, hopefully taking a nap. She and Carol had spent the last day trading off Daryl duty, making sure he ate, making sure he wasn't doing something dumb because he was 'fine, don' know what you're coddlin me for, blah blah, blah blah blah, blah blah, blah'. He didn't actually talk that much, but she could feel it, she could feel him ranting in his head every time she caught him trying to walk for the door.

"Hey." Renee glanced up as Andrea sat down, "I was wondering if I could talk to you?"

"Yeah, what's up?" Renee asked.

"I'm sorry. About shooting Daryl." Andrea said. She'd been looking guilty every time she'd seen Daryl since it happened. Renee would have felt like that too. Daryl hadn't exactly done himself any favors staggering up covered in blood without even yelling to them, but he wasn't exactly in his right mind then either.

"It's okay. You didn't kill him," she laughed a little, "Why are you apologizing to me anyways? I'm not the one you shot."

"I already talked to him. I just thought I should... since you and him -" For the love of god not this again. She knew one hundred percent where they were coming from - she knew damn well she had feelings for Daryl, but she didn't know what to do about that, and didn't want everyone shoving it in her face every five minutes.

"We're not...no," technically not a lie, "You don't need to apologize to me. He's alive, so everything's fine."

"Good," Andrea nodded, "So, you coming to gun practice? We're leaving in a few minutes?"

Shoot, she'd almost forgotten about that. It was a good idea for her to learn how to handle a gun, Jada had wanted to, but...Renee wasn't sure. She was six, Carl was one thing he was eleven, but Jada wasn't just a kid, she was a kid kid. She'd only been out of diapers for three or four years, she didn't need a gun, not yet. The kickback would probably knock her over anyways.

"Yeah, I should just go check on Daryl first." She started to get up.

"Hey!" Jada protested, "I haven't finished your braid!"

Renee laughed, "Okay I have to finish getting my hair done, then I'll check on Daryl."

* * *

><p>A few minutes later Renee sent Jada off to find Carol for her lessons. She'd actually started to get better with math, probably helped that there wasn't all that much to do when the world was over, and her only friend was currently laid up in bed. Jada had been going to visit him for hours at a time, she wasn't sure how much Carl saw her as a friend as much as the baby, he had five years on her, but they were close. Even closer now that Sophia was gone.<p>

She watched Jada bounce off towards the RV, and then made her way over to Daryl's tent. It was starting to get cooler, but she hadn't exactly packed warm clothes for what was supposed to be a weekend trip. Maybe she'd go out on that run soon, there had to be a Khol's or something around here - she'd ask Maggie. She'd need to see if she could borrow a car, she could probably get Daryl to take her when he was feeling better, but she wasn't sure how much stuff she could fit on the bike.

She frowned, there was a lot more noise coming out of his tent than there should've been. "Daryl, what are you doing?" She asked, stepping in. He was out of his cot, crossbow loaded with arrows next to his feet as he shoved maps and a couple cans into his bag.

"Going to look for Sophia," he said, like it was exactly what he was supposed to be doing.

"No you're not."

He stopped, and looked up at her, biting his lip, "Why?" Annoyance was creeping up into his voice.

She almost laughed, "Daryl, you're hurt. You're supposed to be in bed."

"Found her doll, I'm not gonna let that trail go cold," he grumbled. He was trying not to show it, but he winced when he bent down to grab his crossbow. This dumbass was trying to make her life hard, wasn't he? Before he could react she'd taken his bow, his bag, and headed out of the tent.

"Renee!" He snapped, limping after her, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Just go lay down!" She called out, not looking behind her. If she had his stuff he couldn't go places. Actually she wasn't so sure that was true, he'd go hunting buck naked with rock if it came down to it, but damn it she was making a point. Apparently he could hobble along faster than she thought, it wasn't long before he'd grabbed her shoulder, turned her around, and snatched his bow back.

"I'm fine, you just go on to your shootin lessons. Don't need you hovering over me every minute of the fucking day," he grumbled, turning towards the stables.

"Daryl! Daryl come back!" She overtook him easily, putting her hands to his chest, and not giving him any room to sidle around. He scowled down at her, blue eyes burning, but didn't move. She let her hands fall back to her sides, even without touching him she could feel his warmth he was so close. He was making this a hell of a lot harder than it needed to be, "You're not going back out there." He raised a brow, and she met his eyes defiantly, lips pursed, "I won't let you."

"You can't tell me what to do, Red," he said, pushing past her. She was starting to feel almost as pissy as he was.

"Alright fine, then I'm coming with you."

"You're supposed to go shooting," he said, not looking at her.

"You can't tell me what to do, Daryl," she mimicked him, sounding every bit like Jada when she was in a mood, "Anyways they'll figure out I'm not coming. I can always ask Shane for private lessons."

That seemed to give him pause, he looked at her, biting his lip, "I don't want you alone with him."

She rolled her eyes, "You don't get to decide that." She liked this guy why?

He was quiet for a while, "He killed Otis."

She blinked, "That's a pretty heavy accusation."

He stopped, gently turning her to face him, "C'mon you think his story makes a damn bit of sense? Said Otis got overrun while laying down coverfire?" He scoffed, "Then why the hell did Shane come back with his gun? Man's normally got a stick up his ass, but he's spent the last few days acting like there's dogs at his heels." He shook his head, and started walking for the barn again, "He threw Otis to the walkers, he'll do the same to you. I don't want you alone with him."

She didn't push the issue further, she trusted Daryl's gut, it had kept her alive so far. Didn't mean she wasn't pissed at him still, "So that's it? You're worried I'll get killed?" She cocked a brow at him.

"Yeah?" He said that uncertaintly, she couldn't tell if it was in response to her tone, or if there was something else behind his worry.

"Then why the hell do you keep trying to go do the same to yourself? You think I want you dead or something?"

"Oh like you've never been reckless," he laughed bitterly.

"Nope," she said simply, "Never been reckless. I've been stupid, yes, but you know damn well that this a bad idea. But you're gonna go do it anyways, cause you just don't seem to give a fuck about yourself these days." He didn't respond, just kept walking, "Okay, fine, you don't care if you get yourself killed."

"I ain't gonna get myself killed." He protested, but she ignored him.

"You okay with getting me killed though? You can hardly walk, you think you can protect me like that?" She stopped in front of him, crossing her arms.

He rolled his eyes, "You know how to protect yourself, Sunshine. Don't need me for that."

"Really? Cause I don't seem to have a weapon."

He looked down at her, eyes scanning from her shoulder to her hip. Her bow was in her tent, so was her knife, laid haphazardly over a pile of dirty clothes from before her shower. He bit his lip, "C'mon let's go get your bow."

"Nope!" She took off jogging for the stables, every once in a while she'd turn and jog backwards, clapping her hands encouragingly at him, "C'mon, Daryl, we don't got time for that. Trail's getting cold," she clapped again, "C'mon, let's go, let's go." He glared at her, turned, and started stalking back towards camp, "Daryl!" She ran after him, "Where you goin' now?"

"Getting your fucking bow," he muttered, not looking at her. Well at least she'd gotten him to turn around. She wasn't sure what to say next, he was stubborn, it was like getting a cat into a bath. If she couldn't get him to lay back down she supposed she'd actually have to go with him, there was no way in hell she was letting him fall down another cliff or something else dumb like that.

He was breathing heavily, the puncture in his side had to be bothering him. She just hoped he didn't overwork himself and bust a lung on one of those broken ribs. Shit like that could happen, couldn't it? It wasn't long before he'd stepped into her tent, and she followed, standing in the doorway when he turned to leave, bow in hand.

"Daryl, please don't." She'd finally given up and begged.

He shook his head, "Best lead we've had in days," he said walking up so he was just inches from her, each on either side of the threshold, "I can't let this go cold. There's a little girl out there, Red." His tone had softened, but that stubborn insistence hadn't left.

"Daryl, you getting yourself killed out there isn't going to make it any easier for us to find her!" She snapped.

"Move, Sunshine."

"No!" She said, raising her voice.

"What the hell don't you get bout-"

She cut him off quickly, taking a step and forcing him farther back into the tent, "No! What the hell don't you get about all this? I already almost lost you once, Daryl! And I didn't like it! So for the love of god just go lay down!" She took a few heavy breaths as he watched her, "Please."

His bright blue eyes never left hers, he bit his lip. He was so close every time one of them shifted she could feel his clothes brush against hers, a bit of skin against her arm. He was so close, and she still had no idea if she could reach him or not. He closed his eyes, and touched his forehead to hers, slowly he moved lower so his nose pressed against hers as he took in a deep breath and her's caught in her throat. She couldn't help but notice how close their lips were.

He didn't say anything as he straightened, gently moved her aside, walked out of her tent, and into his.

Her heart wouldn't stop beating funny.

* * *

><p>He'd been about to do it. He'd almost kissed her, almost. He let out a heavy breath, tossing his knife into the air, watching it spin above him, and catching it again. She was right, there was a difference between being reckless and being stupid, and this was edging pretty fucking close to stupid. He didn't need to be getting himself into this, getting her into this. He'd already hurt her once, he wasn't going to risk it happening again.<p>

With a groan he pushed himself up, and swung his legs off his cot so he could sit. As far as he knew she'd missed the group heading out to shoot. He was going to need to get her a gun, nothing fancy, just a pistol, take her out for target practice. She was already a pretty damn good shot with a bow when she didn't try to make it complicated for herself. She'd pick it up quickly, there was no way in hell he was letting her anywhere near Shane though.

He didn't give two fucks what kind of man Shane had been before, Daryl was pretty sure he knew who he was now. Maybe the group needed someone like him, but that didn't mean it would be safe for Renee to be around him more than she had to. He shook his head, wouldn't matter if he said anything anyways, it'd be Rick's decision, and when it came to Rick, Shane came first.

Didn't matter. He'd make sure Renee and her girl stayed out of the crossfire if it came down to it, but until then he'd let Shane keep on doing his batshit thing on his own time. Didn't bother Daryl any.

* * *

><p>"What?" Renee raised her brow, nervously glancing towards the barn.<p>

"Glenn, he says he found walkers in the barn, at least a dozen," Dale said. She took a deep breath. Jada had been playing down by that barn just the other day, Renee had sat up on the old tractor and watched her run circles round and round through the field. They'd been right there, maybe twenty feet away, and she hadn't even noticed.

"How the hell did he find that out?"

"Apparently he had wanted to meet Maggie there-" Dale started to explain.

She rolled her eyes, "I told him not to fuck it up," she growled. This would be a problem. As much as she didn't like the thought of walkers in the barn, she also didn't like the thought of leaving the farm. She hadn't spoken to Hershel all that much, but if there was one thing she could tell it was that he was just about as stubborn as Daryl, in a kinder way maybe, but the sentiment was the same. If he wanted those walkers there, for whatever reason, they were going to stay.

"You knew?" Dale asked.

"About him and Maggie? Yeah, he looked like cupid's arrow had been shoved up his butt." She was going to kill him. Some weird part of her almost wished they'd never known, those things hadn't gotten out yet, and it made the whole staying part just that much harder. There was no way she was letting that little girl back onto the road. "What are we going to do?"

"I was going to go talk to Hershel...but if he won't change his mind…"

"We're going to have to bring it to the group, won't we?" She sighed, that wouldn't go well. There were two people with nasty tempers and protective streaks a mile wide in the group, and she only knew she could talk down one of them.

"Yeah." He sounded just as weary as she felt.

"Daryl said something to me earlier, about Shane," she started, and from the look on Dale's face, she knew Daryl wasn't the only one who'd noticed. She shook her head, "He thinks he murdered Otis."

Dale nodded, "I don't think Shane's been in a right state of mind for a long time," he took a breath, "he's not stable."

She hadn't spent all that much time around Shane, but she knew she'd seen that frenzied look in his eyes. The scratch on his cheek had healed, but she'd always wondered why Lori was still up when she'd told Daryl about Merle. Shane was the kind of guy that didn't always think before he acted, and it was liable to throw all of them out into the cold.

"What if we just told Rick? He could figure something out couldn't he? With Hershel?" She asked.

Dale shook his head, "The group will have to find out eventually. It'll be worse if wait." She nodded, closing her eyes tight. This day had turned out to be a hell of a lot more stressful than she'd hoped. She wished she could just climb back into the shower, turn on the hot water, and pretend it hadn't happened. Daryl already had her head reeling, she didn't need this on top of it. "I'm going to go find Hershel, see if I can't find out why if nothing else…"

"I'm going down to the barn," she said, and when she saw the look on his face quickly added, "Don't worry. I just...I just want to look."

It was a long walk down to the barn. Hershel's farm really was beautiful, golden fields and oak trees, all wrapped up by the forest. You could almost forget there was a world out there, or what was left of it. Anna's trailer had been on a farm almost as beautiful as this one, her father had been the foreman. The man who owned it was even older than Hershel, his own children had all gone on to college and their own lives - they came to visit for holidays, but it always felt to her like Anna and her family were the closest thing to something that that had left.

She and Anna used to play all over that farm. They'd run through the pastures and climb through the rafters in the barn, which was dangerous enough considering they were twenty feet above the ground - it didn't help his barn had been full of old farming tools. Rusty old scythes and reapers, it was a wonder they hadn't died. They would take his horses out on the trails, and play with the cows in his pasture. They'd cried when they'd found out why one or two of them disappeared every so often.

She kind of wondered if Anna was still alive. She was good with a gun, she had a beautiful farm like this. Renee shook her head, no point in thinking about that. That was before, this was now.

The barn looked so peaceful, even standing so close she never would have guessed what was inside. Until the breeze change and she wrinkled her nose. She could smell them, rotting slowly in the comfort of their own barn. With breath trapped deep in her lungs she raised a hand, and ran it down the weathered wood on the door. Something on the other side groaned, and she swallowed.

She could hear them shuffling and gurgling, quietly waiting for nothing to happen. Ever so slowly she brought an eye to the crack, and her breath fled when another eye met her gaze. It shifted and danced, hissing as it pressed against the door. The eye disappeared and was replaced with a twisted, rotted smile. She returned it with a curled lip and a suppressed gag.

She didn't like it, but at least here they were behind closed doors. Out there death had a habit of wandering in at the most inopportune moments.

* * *

><p>The silence that followed Glenn's announcement was palpable. He'd wanted to be the one to say it, and he'd waited until morning to do it. She didn't blame him, it was a pretty terrifying thing to bring up. She glanced over at Daryl, he was taking this a lot better than she'd expected. He'd stopped mid chew, mouth still full of eggs, but it was Shane who looked like he was ready to raise hell. Everyone looked scared though. Or angry. Or both. She was just glad Jada had already gone to visit Carl.<p>

"We don't need to be hasty," Rick tried to reason.

"Hasty?" Shane's lips pulled up into an exasperated smile, "There are monsters a hundred yards from where we sleep. You saying we should just leave them there?"

"This isn't our land," Rick insisted, "If we want to stay here, we're going to have to respect that."

"You really want to live twenty feet from a man who keeps walkers as pets?" Shane spat. The group watched the two of them with silent tension, they always seemed to be the ones to make the big decisions. Still she had a feeling more people were siding with Shane today, no one wanted to be that close to the things that had ripped away their families, their lives. It was a bitter reminder in a place that had helped them forget.

"The barn's pretty secure," Renee broke into the quiet, "I checked it out yesterday. I don't think they're going to get out anytime soon."

She felt Daryl's gaze, but Shane's hit her like a truck, "You knew?" His voice came out low and quiet. She suddenly knew exactly what Daryl had meant. What Dale had seen in him. There was some kind of cold fire in Shane, and it worried her. This is when he stopped thinking.

"I told her," Dale stood up for her, taking on Shane's stare.

"How long have you known?" Shane growled.

"I told him yesterday," Glenn said, "I've known since the night before."

Shane spun about running a hand over his head. He was about to turn on Glenn again when Rick stepped in front of him, "Look I think we all need to calm down."

"Can we really stay here when those things are right there?" Carol asked.

"She's right," Andrea added, "Maybe they won't get out today, or tomorrow. But I don't want to be around the night they do."

Daryl was being oddly quiet through all of this. She spared him a glance and blue eyes met hers. She had a feeling he was going to talk later.

"Look, I'll talk to Hershel," Rick said, "We need to stay on this farm." There was a desperation in his voice...Renee looked to Lori, and the woman nodded. She'd told him about the baby. "I'll figure this out."

She glanced at Shane, it looked like he had plans to figure things out too.

* * *

><p>Dale caught up to her quickly, eyes shifting as he placed a hand on her shoulder, "Renee, I need your help," he said, leading her back towards the RV. She had been going to Daryl's tent, she needed somewhere to just unwind - he'd been less grumpy since their argument the other day, hadn't even been pissed at her for not telling him about the barn. She'd tried not to get too 'mama hen' over him, and she had to admit he was getting better - he didn't look like someone was dropping bricks on his chest everytime he moved.<p>

"What's up?" She asked as he shut the door behind them.

"I don't trust Shane," he said, glancing out the window.

"Yeah neither do I, so what's up?" She pressed. Last she knew Shane had gone out with Andrea. He wasn't doing anything that she knew of, Dale had the guns locked up tight, so unless he wanted to take on twelve or more walkers hand to hand he was pretty much just going to have to play along.

"I think he's going to try to pull something," Dale said, going to the bed and digging under the mattress, "I don't want the guns where he can find them." Renee nodded, "He's been watching me like a hawk recently - he's known I haven't trusted him since before we left Atlanta - I don't know if I could slip them out of camp, but you could."

"So you just want me to go hide the guns?" She asked as he held the bag out to her.

"Please." She took the bag and swung it over her shoulder. If she slipped out the door fast enough she'd be able to go around to the other side of the RV and it would be a straight shot to the woods, no one would see her. Shane was liable to do something rash, and rash could put her little girl out on the road as the winter got closer. They'd wait til Rick talked to Hershel, if that meant going on a little solo hike so be it.

"I'll be back." She nodded to him, slipped out the door, and was heading for the woods.

* * *

><p>He didn't get how everyone could give up on Sophia so quickly. Shane sure, but Carol? He shook his head, stabbing holes into the floor of his tent with his knife. That was her daughter out there, he'd found her doll, the house where she'd slept. She was out there he had proof, hell she probably wasn't even all that far. He'd nearly died looking for that girl, and they were all ready to pretend she'd never existed.<p>

He growled sheathing his knife and standing just a little too quickly, his face twisted and he waited a moment to catch his breath. They were idiots, every last one of them. Dead people locked in a barn, and suddenly the living girl out in the woods wasn't a concern anymore. Even Renee seemed less interested in Sophia than in well...him. At least she hadn't practically told him to wash his hands of it.

He needed to find her anyway. They needed to make a run, there was a hunting supply store about twenty minutes from here he needed more bolts, and he'd seen her quiver recently - more than one arrow had run away from her in the haunch of a deer. It wouldn't exactly be physically intensive work, just a ride on Merle's bike - she couldn't object to that.

Camp was quiet today, everyone was either out or worrying about the walkers in the barn. He didn't like it, didn't like the thought that geeks were just one accident away from ripping them apart, but there wasn't anything he could do about that right now.

She wasn't doing laundry with Lori, and he could see Jada doing her school work with Carol. Where the hell was Renee? Andrea was back, so Shane must've been too, not that he saw him around either. Walsh must have been watching the barn again.

Dale was on watch, "Hey!" Daryl called up to him, "You seen Renee?"

Dale shook his head, "Nah, haven't seen her. Thought she might've gone out hunting."

"By herself?" Daryl's brow furrowed.

"That hasn't stopped you before," Dale joked, watching the treeline over the field.

"Where's everyone else?" Daryl asked, he didn't like the idea of Renee out there alone. Which he realized made him a hypocrite, but that wasn't all that important right now.

"Rick went off with Hershel," the RV door opened and Andrea stepped out, "I think I saw Shane walk off towards the woods, wouldn't say what he was doing." Dale seemed to get a little paler at that. "I'm gonna go take watch at the barn," she said, shoving a pistol into her waistband and walking off.

"You wanna tell me why you look like you seen a ghost?" Daryl asked, watching Dale intently.

"I asked Renee to do me a favor, hide the guns from Shane, I didn't think he'd…"

"You think he followed her?" Daryl asked, he could feel his muscles tensing. Dale nodded, and Daryl was running for his tent. He was going to need his bow.

* * *

><p>It was weird being out in the woods by herself, she'd never really gone out there for any extended amount of time without Daryl. They never talked a lot, but it was nice just having his company. She sighed, readjusting the bag on her shoulder as she clambered over some particularly big roots. Walking off into the swamps had been a terrible mistake, she was covered in mud up to mid-calf, and her shoes squished with every step, but it was too late to turn back now.<p>

She hadn't actually decided how she was going to hide the guns. It would be more than easy to bury them out here, but would she be able to find them again? Also all that wet mud would have to damage them. There had to be another way - whether or not the guns were a problem now, they were going to be needed somewhere down the line - no point in throwing them away.

There was an odd, sharp sound somewhere behind her. She froze, glancing around for the source. She had her bow in case of walkers - or deer, honestly she was hoping for deer - but as far as she could tell she was alone. She shook her head and kept walking. It was a few more minutes before she found a good spot, a huge hollow in the base of a tree. There were ferns all around, she could move them to cover the hole - and voila.

"Nice hiding place." A smug voice came from behind her and she stiffened. As quietly as she could she pulled a handgun from the bag, and held it out of view as she turn to face Shane, "Dale put you up to it?" He had that glint in his eye again, upper lip starting to curl into something frighteningly similar to a snarl. She didn't answer his question, he seemed to take that as a yes. With cold deliberate steps he came towards her, "I don't wanna hurt you Renee, but I need those guns."

She took a shaky breath, and raised her pistol. She couldn't let him, she needed this farm, Jada needed this farm. A smile spread across his lips, and he started to laugh, "Look I know Dale's put all these little ideas in your head about who I am." He took a step closer, the smile took on more of a manic twist the less distance there was between them. This wasn't the Shane she used to know, "Let's say he's right. Now I don't want you to get hurt Renee, but we both know I can take those guns from you anytime I want." Closer. She cocked the gun, and that smile just got colder, "You wouldn't shoot me Renee."

"Yeah, but I would." The familiar growl came from behind Shane. Everyone held their breath.

**Wee bit o' a cliffhanger for you guys. Not sure how canon I'm going to keep things at this point, what will happen next? Honestly not even I know. **

**I hope to hear back from you guys. Let me know how you liked the chapter, and if you checked out the soundtrack let me know about that too! **

**Promise to update as soon as I can! See ya soon!**


	17. Blue Rust and Iron Wine

**Well I have finally figured out the plot of the story, we're going to loosely follow canon for a while and then it's going to split off in a different direction. I won't tell you for how long it'll be doing what, cause spoilers hahaha. Anyways chapter seventeen woo! Things were getting a lil'bit intense that chapter, so I guess we should probably go ahead and find out what happened. **

**Thanks to everyone who has followed and favorited this story! Special thanks to redangel2463, sillygabby, Inkandtrees, and my-forgotten-rose for the reviews! **

**Chapter 17 - Blue Rust and Iron Wine**

Shane didn't turn around to see the arrow aimed at his head, he kept his eyes trained on Renee. Her hands were shaking, he smiled when he saw that. He seemed to be smiling at everything today.

She had never been happier to see Daryl, his eyes were burning into Shane's back, every muscle tensed, finger on the trigger. A wheezing laugh bubbled up in the cop's chest as he raised his hands above his head, she didn't take the gun off him.

"I expected this from you, Renee," Shane shook his head, "But Daryl? I would have thought you'd want to get rid of those walkers. Get rid of the threat?"

"Get away from her." Daryl's voice was dangerously low.

Laughter rose to his lips again, "Woo, lover boy has a bit of a bite to him don't he...what's that he calls you...Sunshine?" Neither one of them responded, just kept watching. She needed him to leave, she didn't want him dead, she just wanted him to walk away. "You really gonna shoot me, Dixon?"

"If you make me," Daryl said, not taking his eyes off Shane. Shane nodded as if he understood.

"Alright." If anything Shane was fast, she didn't have time to react as he grabbed her wrist, took her gun, and spun her around in front him. Everything went cold as hard steel was pressed against her temple. "Try it."

She met Daryl's gaze, eyes wide, Shane had killed Otis. Would he hesitate to kill her? Daryl? Jada was back at that farm still, Jada was back at the farm and she was going to be dead in a swamp. Daryl didn't lower his bow, but he didn't have quite so tight a hold on the trigger anymore. His eyes flicked between her's and Shane, he was breathing heavily, he still should have been resting not running after her in the woods.

Shane jumped and she was jerked forward, the muzzle of the gun digging into her skin, Daryl flinched. Shane laughed as she tried her hardest to breath, she'd spent the last month wondering how she was going to die. She'd had her money on being eaten alive, not a bullet from a man she had considered a friend. It would be painless, but somehow it still hurt.

"Put down the bow, Daryl," Shane said in a slow, soothing voice, "I just want the guns. You set that down, you can have your girl, no one has to get hurt. We can all just walk away, forget about this." Renee didn't think she'd be able to forget the gun at her head. Daryl didn't budge. "I don't want to shoot her Daryl, I don't, but I will if you make me. If I shoot her, then," he let out a short, barkish laugh, "Well I'll have to shoot you too." Daryl still didn't move.

"You remember back at the CDC?", Shane continued, "I told you it's about protecting our own? That's all I'm trying to do Daryl, I got people back there I got to take care of." Daryl's lip curled into a snarl as he watched the gun at Renee's head. "You're trying to protect Renee, I get that, I do. The best way do that right now? Is to put down the bow, and let me walk away."

Daryl bit his lip, he still hadn't said anything. She had no good options right now, it was get thrown out, or die and not be around for Jada when she got thrown out. No good options, but she'd like to at least keep breathing. She met Daryl's eyes, and nodded. The bow was slowly lowered to the ground, and suddenly she was shoved forward.

She stumbled into Daryl's arms, warm hands holding her close as she let out a shaky breath. She could feel his heart pounding in his chest as she leaned into him, still struggling to find her breath. Daryl ran a hand down from her shoulder to her lower back, tracing circles with his thumb. She hadn't realized how badly she was shaking.

They were going to have to leave the farm, Shane was going to fuck it up, they were going to be out for the winter.

"You know," Shane had his back turned to them as he reached for the bag, he'd stuffed the handgun into his waistband. Daryl was breathing heavily, and this time it wasn't out of pain. She glanced up at him, even though Shane hadn't killed them, Daryl still looked very much like he wanted kill him. "You made the right -" he didn't have time to finish the sentence, Daryl lunged forward, tossed the handgun to the side, grabbed Shane around the neck, and threw him to the ground.

There was that Dixon temper. With a yell Daryl brought his fist down, it connected with Shane's jaw with a sickening crunch. She flinched, what the hell was she supposed to do? Daryl was straddling him, one hand gripping his collar, the other pulled back to punch again. This time it hit his nose, there was another crunch, this one sounded wet as Daryl pulled his fist back again, covered in blood.

He didn't get time to land another hit. With a roar Shane gripped Daryl's shoulder, and flipped him on his back, she heard him lose his breath as a knee was driven into his already broken ribs. Something cracked. What the hell was she supposed to do? Daryl was struggling to breath as Shane punched him once, twice. Her hands shook, the fallen pistol was at her feet she didn't know how to use a gun, she'd only hit Daryl. Could she get Shane with her bow? They were moving so much.

Daryl had the upper hand again, he'd kicked Shane off, and staggered to his feet. His buck knife flashed silver as he drew, and raised it, "Daryl don't!" She yelled, she didn't want that blood on his hands. Not because of her. He hesitated, Shane leapt forward, tackling him to the ground. The knife fell into the leaf litter as Shane's hands closed around Daryl's throat. Daryl was gasping and twisting, fingers searching for the fallen knife.

She didn't have to think anymore. She grabbed the gun, and swung it butt first into the back of Shane's head. He slumped, and Daryl took in a huge breath.

"Daryl!" Her voice cracked as she shoved Shane's unconscious body off of him, and helped him sit up, "Daryl." Thick red marks crisscrossed his neck where Shane's fingers had been, a black bruise was already spreading over his cheekbone, and blood trickled from his mouth. He spat pink, still gasping for breath as he watched her. They were okay, they were going to be okay.

She threw her arms around him, burying her face in his neck. He took a shaky breath, one arm pulling her in close. She'd almost lost him again.

"You alright, Sunshine?" He asked, and she started laughing, he blinked as a weak smile formed on his lips, "What?"

"You just got the shit beat out of you, and you're asking me if I'm alright?" She giggled helplessly, and probably more than necessary, the nerves were getting to her. He looked like he was in a lot of pain, he'd taken a lot of blows to his already broken ribs, but his gaze softened as he watched her.

"...Yeah?"

"You're an idiot Daryl Dixon." She laid her head on his shoulder again, and closed her eyes for a moment. That had gone a lot worse than she'd hoped. She glanced at Shane, his nose must have been broken, a black eye and a bruised jaw were forming, a bit of blood trickled down his cheek from his scalp where she'd hit him. His chest still rose and fell, he wasn't dead. That was a relief...oddly. "What are we going to do with him?" She asked, sitting up, "I mean what the hell is Rick gonna think...shit how're we even gonna get him back to the farm?"

"C'mon we'll each," he groaned as he tried to stand, face twisting he quickly sat back down, "take an arm…" he finished through a gasping breath - it didn't sound right wet and raspy, almost a crackling sound, like water on a hot skillet. He coughed and more blood leaked from the side of his mouth, she desperately hoped it was from a cut...if it had been from his lungs.

His ribs hadn't been in great shape in the first place, Shane must have fucked them up bad. If only the world had ended a couple years later she would have had a few years of med school under her belt, instead all she had were a shit ton of science classes. She could name by heart every muscle that lined his rib cage, explain in detail the healing process of the broken bones underneath, but she didn't know how to help him in the slightest. Ribs were easy, tape them and leave them, unless they weren't easy and something a bit more important had been damaged.

He needed to see Hershel.

"I don't think you should be walking, fuck carrying anyone…" She looked over at Shane, there was no way in hell she could carry him on her own, "We can't just leave him here though."

"I'm fine."

She looked at him sharply, "No you're not." She took a heavy breath, and handed him the gun, "If he wakes up you shoot." He nodded. "Promise?"

He met her eyes, "Promise, Sunshine." She frowned, she needed to go get help. She couldn't carry them both, but she hated to leave him. He looked like hell, he was struggling to breath, and on top of that she was leaving him with a sleeping dragon. She just didn't see any other choices. It was twenty minutes back to the farm, ten if she ran. What if there was internal bleeding? What if Shane woke up and...what if Daryl was gone when she came back.

In the three months since the world ended, Renee Waller had done a lot of stupid things, but this...this was the first time that she was reckless.

She kissed him. He kissed back.

It was soft and sweet, tasted red with iron and sharp with sweat. A hand wove through the hair at the nape of her neck, fingers trailing across her skin, as she gently kissed him again. She blinked, their lips still a hairs breadth from each other. Brilliant blue eyes, clouded with pain, but she knew. He'd felt it too.

"I'll be back," she whispered, kissed him once more, took her bow, and started running.

* * *

><p>She only ran harder when she saw the bright white wash of the Greene's house. She'd ran quietly through the woods, listening for walkers and a single gunshot, but now she screamed. Dale heard her cries for help first as she sprinted up through the field, but by the time she'd vaulted the fence everyone had gathered around. Even the Greenes were out on the porch, watching with concerned expressions.<p>

"Renee?" Rick grabbed her shoulders as she slid to a stop.

"Shane," she gasped, glancing between Rick, Lori, and Dale, "He...he...please Daryl's hurt."

"Is Shane okay?" She hadn't known Carl had been given leave to go outside.

Rick watched her, looking like he feared the worst. Dale seemed to too, though she was pretty sure their ideas of worst varied vastly. She nodded, "He'll be okay. Please, we need to hurry, Daryl's not breathing right I think he might've punctured a lung...I don't know."

"Shane, is Shane with him?" Lori asked.

She bit her lip, "Yeah…" the bitterness reached through her labored breath.

"Renee?" Dale asked, "What happened?"

She met Rick's eyes, Carl's, Rick's, "Shane put a gun to my head."

* * *

><p>Rick had called for Hershel, told him to get two beds ready. She was desperately hoping they'd need both of them. Rick, Glenn, T-Dog, and Beth's boyfriend Jimmy sprinted along behind her as she hopped logs and ditches. The ground was softening, they'd be there soon.<p>

She didn't see Daryl at first, he'd managed to drag himself back against a tree. She took a breath when he did, his chest staggering to rise. Shane hadn't woken up, they would have heard the shot. His breaths were more even, the blood on his scalp had already started to crust and fade to dark brown.

Rick watched the two of them for a moment, lips parted as he blinked. She wasn't sure how much he'd believed her. Not that he thought she was lying, just he...he hadn't been expecting this. No one had, to be honest. She bit her lip watching Daryl, he hardly seemed to have noticed them.

"I'm back," she said softly, kneeling down next to him. His eyes flickered open and he coughed through a forced smile.

"Hey, Sunshine." His lips were losing color, he was losing color. He blinked sleepily, wincing as he took in a breath. She cradled his cheek and touched her forehead to his, closing her eyes and just feeling his skin against hers. He was warmer than she'd expected...with a frown she drew back and placed a hand on his forehead, was he starting to get a fever?

"How's he doing?" Rick asked nervously, crouching next to her.

"I'm still here you know," Daryl rasped. Renee shook her head, smiling. He was stubborn.

"You don't look good," She said, her hand falling to rest on his.

"I'm-" She was ninety percent sure he was about to say fine when he started coughing, they were heavy and wheezing, and left him groaning and fighting for air. Blood speckled his chin.

Rick's mouth twisted as he took a deep breath and glanced back at his unconscious friend, "Let's get him back to farm." She nodded, and placed one kiss on Daryl's cheek before Glenn and T-Dog hoisted him up between them. He didn't need to be straight up carried, but he was unsteady on his feet. Rick and Jimmy practically had to drag Shane between them. Renee grabbed the bag of guns, Daryl's knife, and followed behind. She frowned every time he coughed, every time he was jostled by unsteady steps and uneven terrain.

He wasn't allowed to die, not now...not...at least he knew, at least she knew he'd felt it. Even if those ragged breaths faded to nothing, he wouldn't have died without knowing she'd cared. She wasn't sure if he was still awake, she was too scared to check, but his head hung and it didn't seem like he was trying to take steps anymore. Her lip trembled as the full force of the day hit her. He would be fine...he knew now...he had to be fine.

* * *

><p>It was a relief to see the farmhouse again. She did her best not to look at anyone as they passed the group, but she could feel their stares. Right now she was just trying not to cry, she didn't need to see the looks on their faces. Why did she feel so guilty? Daryl was quickly pulled into the room Carl had been in only that morning. She didn't wait to see where they took Shane, though she assumed the room Daryl had been in last time.<p>

"You think it's a punctured lung?" Hershel asked her as they pulled off Daryl's shirt, and laid him on the bed. Angry bruises spread over his ribcage, she just watched the Norman tattoo on his chest flutter up and down, and nodded. The old man took out his stethoscope, listening in the quiet to Daryl's breath. She shook her head. He could have let Shane walk away...why the hell had he tried to stop him? She knew why. Dixons protected their own...and their temperaments didn't exactly help with judgement skills.

Daryl needed to stop trying to die for other people. It was stressing her out.

"I think you may be right," he said, straightening back up. She bit her lip, looking desperately between Daryl and Hershel, "Don't worry. He'll live," Hershel smiled kindly, as Patricia entered the room. "I'm going to need one of those big hollow needles from the top shelf, a syringe, an IV drip, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories - just cut one of those into a quarter before you crush it up would you? We only have the horse doses left - and I suppose we don't have any diuretics?" Patricia shook her head, "That'll have to do then."

"He's going to be okay?"

"I say he should be," he took a deep breath, "It's hard to diagnose, we don't have an x-ray, but supposing your right - and supposing it's minor - he should make a quick recovery. We just need to draw the excess air from his chest so his lung can re-inflate."

"If it doesn't?" She asked, watching his chest rise with a labored breath.

"We may need to keep drawing air for a while, till the puncture closes up...if he isn't showing improvement in a few days, I'll need to perform surgery...We'll put him on Carl's ventilator for now, help him breath while he heals." He hung the stethoscope over his shoulders, "You say Shane did this?"

Renee nodded, "He landed a few heavy blows to his ribs...I think he might have been okay if he hadn't already been hurt."

Hershel nodded, "Do you know why?"

"He had a gun to my head."

"No, Shane. What set him off?"

She took a deep breath. She wanted to stay on this farm so bad, but she wasn't so sure Shane would be allowed to...whether he wanted to or not. Now it just depended on whether or not Rick would take everyone else with him, for the group's sake, she hoped not. "He wanted the group's guns...he was going to go put down the wa-people, the people in your barn. Dale asked me to hide them." She eyed a large bruise on Daryl's side, "I wouldn't let him take them...Daryl found us, I guess he must have followed our trail...things got heated."

The door opened and Patricia came back in. "Thank you for being honest," Hershel said, taking the needle from Patricia, "You should go now. Check up on your little girl."

She took one last long look at Daryl, the colorless lips that tasted of iron and salt, and shut the door behind her.

* * *

><p>Jada had been worried when she finally found her. She must have seen the look on Renee's face though, because she just let her hold her, and didn't ask too many questions. Renee had pressed her face into soft hair laced with butterflies, and took a deep breath. Daryl was going to be okay. That was what mattered right now. Daryl was going to be just fine, and as long as he was recovering they'd be allowed to stay - she wouldn't have to worry about his lung collapsing again out on the road.<p>

Eventually Rick had come to find her, she'd been forced to let go of Jada, and follow him into the living room. Most of the group was gathered, Carol was missing, so were the children. Everyone looked somewhere between shocked and angry, and she just couldn't tell at whom that second emotion was directed.

"We want to know exactly what happened," Rick said shortly, as she sat down. She told them everything, from Dale telling her to hide the guns down to the moment she hit Shane with the pistol and ran for help. She left out the kiss. That was for her and Daryl to discuss on their own when he was awake.

Rick shook his head, running his face through his hands, "I was working something out with Hershel, I told him that…"

"What are we going to do?" Glenn asked, "With Shane...I mean he tried to kill two of our own."

"I for one don't feel safe with him around." Dale added, "He's a danger to the group, he's just not who he used to be."

"What are we going to do? Kick him out?" Andrea asked, incredulous. Some people looked at her, others kept their eyes on the floor. Rick still had his face in his hands, "He was trying to put down some Walkers. We're going to kick him out for that? He and Daryl both have tempers but…"

"He pulled a gun on Renee!" Glenn looked at her as if she hadn't said a word that made sense.

"Yeah, after she pulled one on him! I'm not saying it was right," she leaned back against the couch, "But we can't be making hasty decisions, there was fault on both sides."

"He could have walked away too," Dale argued, "He wasn't supposed to have those guns, he could have given up. Instead he threatened to kill her," Dale gestured to Renee.

The Grimes' had been very quiet so far. It must have been hard to process, that was Rick's best friend, he was family to them. Finally Lori spoke up, "Shane hasn't been the same since Atlanta...I'm not saying we should make a decision now, but…" she put her head in her hands for a moment, then met the group's eyes, "Can we come back from this?"

"Renee," Rick said, looking up, "What do you think?"

She knew exactly what she thought, "I don't feel safe having him around my family." Would she rather face the dead in hell, or sit in heaven with a madman? "If he stays I leave. I'm not risking Jada by keeping her around him."

"He was doing it for our safety," Andrea argued. Renee didn't know how she was still defending him. They'd both been on the outskirts of the group since Atlanta, she'd isolated herself since Amy died, Shane had been pushed out. Maybe they were closer than she'd thought.

"He was doing it for Lori and Carl." Renee said suddenly, and Lori's eyes met hers. Renee hadn't thought before she spoke, Lori knew she knew about her and Shane, "Everything he does he does for them, and he's more than willing to let us all burn if it would keep them safe."

Rick stood, "I need to think." He pushed his way out the door, and Lori hurried after him, shooting her a worried look. She didn't seem mad, just...scared?

If they let Shane stay...she'd wait till Daryl could get back on the road...he'd come with her. She knew it.

**Yaay! Renyl kissed! I'd been planning on saving that for later, but I thought the moment was right, so their relationship is progressing earlier than I'd planned. I've finally got the general flow of the plot figured out, but I haven't completely decided on character development, so details are still up in the air. **

**I hope y'all like it! I hope to hear back from you, tell me what you thought! I'll update soon. **

**See ya guys then!**


	18. Modern Monsters

**Alrighty chapter eighteen! Currently fighting off food coma, they put out a bunch of stuff that didn't get eaten at the end of each shift at the restaurant I work at. I had the brunch shift, and today we had extra donuts and oh god was I so happy. I'll probably end up taking a nap at some point, but I really want to get some writing done. Anyways this will be a pretty thick chapter plotwise, so I hope you guys enjoy! **

**Thanks to everyone who has followed and favorited. Special thanks to Starcrier, sillygabby, redangel2463, Inkandtrees, XXBlackfireXX, and Kyokkou for the reviews! **

**Chapter 18 - Modern Monsters**

Shane hadn't woken up yet, neither had Daryl. Everyone had been very quiet since the talk in the livingroom. Renee sighed, wringing out one of Jada's sequin studded shirts, and watching the trail of glitter it left swirl through the soapy water. Hershel said Daryl was doing better now that air had been drawn from his chestal cavity, they'd have to monitor him, keep drawing air, but he'd be okay. Apparently Shane had a broken nose, and what Hershel assumed was a concussion, he should be waking up anytime now.

She cast a worried glance down towards the barn, Rick and Lori had been down by the old tractor for a long time now. Just talking, she guessed about Shane, maybe about the baby. Honestly she was more worried about Carl than the older Grimes', it was a hell of a lot to deal with, but they could understand the situation. She wasn't sure if Carl could, at least not right now.

He was worried about Shane, she could tell. He'd closed himself off, wouldn't play with Jada, wasn't too fond of talking to anyone. Shane was like a second dad, an uncle, and a big brother all rolled into one for him She didn't blame him for being upset. She'd tried to get Jada to do laundry with her, she needed to be doing some kind of chore, but Jada hadn't wanted too. Both of the kids were kind of shell shocked by the day, and she was too tired to argue, so she let it go.

Right now Jada was sitting mopily about ten feet away from Carl, who was beating the ground with a rock, up and down, up and down. She sighed, wringing the last of the glitter water out of the last shirt, and going to hang it up on the clothesline. Carol was inside helping with dinner since Patricia had gotten tied up in caring for the group's latest casualties.

As far as she knew Andrea was in the RV, she'd been planning on going to watch the barn, but Rick and Lori were down there. Wasn't exactly a public conversation. She'd seen Glenn wander off after a very pissed looking Maggie, T-Dog was getting firewood, Dale was on watch...other than the kids, she was pretty much alone.

It was weird, privacy was an old world commodity that she didn't get often anymore, especially not in the middle of camp. Kind of ironic considering at least half the population was dead. What was left had to be closer though, you could survive on your own, but you had to work together to live.

The RV door opened and Andrea walked towards her, "Hey," she smiled awkwardly, "You need a hand?"

"Yeah, could you start hanging those shirts?" She pointed the wet wad of clothes in the basket. Andrea nodded and grabbed the first off the top.

She held it up, "Is this Daryl's?"

"Yeah, I figured he could use some clean clothes once he's up."

Andrea smiled and shook her head, "You're really going to leave?"

Renee closed her eyes, she didn't want to be thinking about this right now. "I don't know...if I have to."

"He was trying to help," Andrea said, laying Daryl's shirt over the wire.

"And if he'd succeeded we'd all be out on our asses," Renee frowned, hanging one of Jada's shirts - bright blue with a sparkly silver unicorn.

"Now it'll be just you," Andrea said with a tired weight in her voice.

Renee glanced down at Rick and Lori, she didn't know what had been said, but Rick was holding her, her head on his shoulder, "Or just him." Renee didn't know what to do, all of this had been so she wouldn't have to put Jada back on the road, but...could she really stay here with Shane? She'd talked with Dale earlier, Shane had all but admitted that he'd been the one to kill Otis, and he'd said, without any hesitation, that he'd shoot her. He'd shoot her, then he'd shoot Daryl, and walk away with those guns.

It wasn't about the group. It was about him...what he wanted. She glanced at Lori, they were coming back up towards camp.

"He's dangerous," Renee said.

"Why, because he has independent thoughts?" The bitterness from the living room creeped back into Andrea's voice.

"No, because he uses those independent thoughts to make decisions for the group all by himself." She shook her head, "I'm sorry, I'm too tired to argue right now. Can we just, I don't know, talk about the weather until after dinner...it's been a long day."

Andrea's face softened, "Yeah…" She picked up one of Renee's shirts, "It was kinda cold last night."

"It must be at least half way through September now," Renee commented, "Some of the leaves are starting to look a little yellow."

"Yeah," Andrea hung another shirt, "They are."

* * *

><p>The tap squealed as she turned it on, cool water rushing out. It was almost time for dinner, if she didn't make Jada wash up she just wasn't going to at all. The little girl hopped up onto the little wooden stepstool in the Greene's bathroom, and reached for the soap.<p>

"Are Daryl and Shane going to be okay?" She asked, putting two little fists holding a thin bit of soap under the water.

"Yeah they're going to be okay, sweetie."

"Carl said that you guys want to throw Shane out." She said it so simply, there was an airiness to such heavy words when it was spoken with her voice.

"And how did he know that?" Renee raised a brow, the kids were supposed to have been outside.

Jada looked a bit sheepish, "He asked me to distract Carol so he could...eve..eav…"

"Eavesdrop?" Renee supplied, and Jada nodded. She'd have to tell Lori, there was a lot that she would want to talk to her kid about, a lot he probably shouldn't have heard that way, "And how'd you distract Carol?"

"I told her I had to poop, and I needed her help wiping…"

Renee put a hand to her mouth to stop herself from laughing, this just wasn't the type of behavior she should be encouraging. Jada new very well how to wipe her own butt, Renee suppressed a giggle, that kid had no shame. She took a deep breath to calm herself, "Was it nice to lie to Carol?" She asked in her best, 'think about what you've done' voice.

"No...but Carl told me to!" Jada protested as she finished rinsing her hands, and Renee turned the tap back off.

"And did that make it right?"

Jada shook her head, "Am I in trouble?"

"Just don't do it again." Renee took her place in front of the sink and started washing her own hands. Maybe after dinner she'd go check in on Daryl, see if he was breathing okay, see if he'd woken up yet.

"Did Shane really try to kill you?" Jada asked, and Renee froze. She'd really been hoping that Jada wouldn't have understood that part, wouldn't have questioned it...but she was a smart kid, and she loved to ask questions.

"Sort of…"

"Sort of? Mommy never sort of tried to kill spiders...if she picked up that magazine, that bug was gonna go to heaven real quick." Renee smiled, at least Jada wasn't hard to have this type of conversation with.

"He threatened to kill me," Renee explained.

"What's threatened mean?"

"It's when someone says they'll do something to someone else for doing something they didn't want them to." Renee put down the bar of soap and started rinsing her hands.

"Like when you say you're gonna take away my bedtime stories?" Jada asked.

"Yeah, like that."

"That wasn't very nice of him," Jada said, and Renee tried not to laugh again. That was one hell of an understatement, "Is Shane a bad man?"

She didn't want to lie, but the truth was bitter, "He's not a good one." She'd sprinkled it with sugar, just a little twist of the words. "It's probably best you don't talk about this with Carl, okay?" Renee said, and Jada nodded, "This is something he needs to sort out with his own family."

"Okay."

* * *

><p>Dinner had been quiet, most people didn't eat together. She'd shared a plate of canned green beans and carrots with Jada, along with some fresh snap peas from the garden. Daryl hadn't exactly been in hunting shape recently, they'd been kinda low on meat. She could have gone out, but things had been hectic. They'd live on vegetables for a while, maybe she'd try for her first solo hunt in a day or two. Nothing big, just squirrels...maybe a rabbit if she was lucky.<p>

It was already starting to get darker earlier. It was burning under the sun, but a chill was seeping into the air now that evening had turned the sky purple. Jada had convinced Beth to play tag with her, Jimmy had joined in. Renee was at least eighty percent sure there was more flirting going on than playing, but Jada didn't seem to notice.

With a sigh she shoved off the porch railing, and headed back inside. She might as well visit Daryl while she had the time.

Hershel was already in there, a needle between Daryl's ribs, every once in a while a bit of blood would spurt out into the syringe, but most of it was just air. Breath that had escaped the wrong way. The ventilator kept pumping it in. He did look better though, the color had returned to his lips, and someone must have cleaned him up a bit - there was less blood.

"He was awake a little while ago," Hershel said, not looking up, "He asked about you."

She smiled, "He looks like he's breathing better." Her fingers absentmindedly traced the blankets as she came to stand next to him. Hershel nodded, pulling the needle out and setting it on a tray on the bedside table.

"If his condition keeps improving I don't think we'll have to do surgery." Hershel stood wiping his hands on the handkerchief he kept in his pocket, "You plan on sitting with him for a while?" Renee nodded. "Well maybe you'll get lucky, catch him next time he wakes up."

Hershel closed the door softly, and she took the chair next to Daryl's bed. Bruises swelled along his normally sharp cheekbones, purple snaked over his throat where Shane's hands had been. He looked peaceful though, chest rising and falling with the hum of the ventilator.

She'd kissed him, actually kissed him. A sigh forced its way out. She could still feel his lips against hers, his hands in her hair, the soft, insistent pressure as he pulled her in closer. Like he didn't quite want to let go. She held his hand now, gliding her fingers over his palm, the weathered calluses, and deep lines. The knuckles on his right hand were raw, only just starting to scab over. He really would be laid up for a while this time, and really laid up, he'd stay in bed this time. She'd make sure of it.

She didn't want to hunt alone any longer than she had too, but she didn't need him busting himself up again. He was still young enough to think he was invincible. She twined her fingers into his, and leaned her head against their hands, she was so tired.

"Morning, Sunshine," his voice rasped next to her.

She smiled against the back of his hand, not looking up, "It's dark outside, Daryl."

He let out a deep humming sound that she thought was supposed to be a laugh. She looked up at him, his eyes were closed, but the faintest smile traced his lips. He squeezed her hand. They sat like that quietly for a long time, every once in a while he'd open his eyes to look at her, before closing them again. They didn't speak, she didn't know what words to use, where to start.

Instead she leaned over, kissed him on the forehead, and said, "I'm glad you're okay."

"What'd they do with Shane?" He asked, voice cracking slightly, his throat had to be dry as hell with that ventilator pumping in air all the time.

"We haven't decided yet. Rick's thinking it over."

He frowned, "He comes near you again, I'll kill him."

"Daryl, don't." He raised an eyebrow, "Don't sink to his level."

"And what's his level?" He hmmed again, "Protecting his own?"

"No. Killing people, we don't kill people. There aren't enough of us left for that." She didn't want anyone's blood on her hands. Not even Shane's, he was unstable, that didn't mean he had to die. He just...needed to be unstable somewhere else...where he could what? Die out of sight and out of mind so she wouldn't have to feel guilty? She shook her head, this was all so fucked up.

"If you're having second thoughts about putting a bullet through his head next time he's got his mind set on killing you, then you're delusional, Red." He let out a slow, mechanical breath, "When push comes to shove and it's you or the guy at your throat, you're gonna have to make a choice." He took in another breath with the ventilator, "Don't make me bury you cause you can't get over your fucking morals." Renee wasn't sure what to say, "You remember the bodies back at the old folks home in Atlanta?" He continued, "It ain't the walkers we gotta be worried about...there are worse monsters out there than dead people."

She let out a sigh, and brought her head back down to their hands, "I'm so tired."

"More than enough room on the bed, why don't you come lay down?"

She shook her head, trying ignore the heavy burn of sleep in her eyes, "I need to go put Jada to bed." She sat back up, meeting his gaze. There was something low and burning in his eyes as he watched her with a soft smile. She didn't even think about it, just pressed her lips to his, moving them together soft and slow. His hand came up to rest above her hip as her hand came down to rest on his chest, he winced. "Oh shit!" She cursed, breaking away, "I'm so sorry."

He let out another low, humming laugh, "It's fine, Sunshine. Say hey to your girl for me."

She smiled, nodded, and pressed one last kiss to his lips, "I'll be back later," she forced down a grin. She didn't want to turn out like Glenn, he was verging far too close to pathetic when it came to Maggie these days. Still it was hard to ignore the butterflies that fought their out of her stomach, up her throat, and dragged her mouth into a smile as she walked back down the hallway.

She'd been to nervous to actually talk about what those kisses meant. It could wait though. She had time.

* * *

><p>Jada was asleep with Franklin back in their tent, once the girl was out she was out. It was kind of funny actually, Renee had kept on reading for five or ten minutes before she heard the telltale snore. There was already drool dribbling out the corner of her mouth. Renee had smiled and wiped it away before dog-earing the page about ten pages back, and heading out into the night.<p>

She was really going to need to make that clothing store run soon. It was chilly, part of her wanted to crawl back into the tent, slip under the blankets and go to sleep. She needed to talk to Lori though...about a lot of things.

Lori hadn't gone to bed yet either, a single lamp illuminated the forms of Rick and a sleeping Carl in the tent, but Lori was just sitting out by the dying fire. She was alone. No one else had felt like staying up, no one felt like talking - they'd be doing more than enough of that in the morning.

"Hey," Renee said, taking the foldout chair beside her.

"Hey." Lori sounded tired.

"How're you doing?" She asked, she knew the answer already, somewhere along the lines of ''not good', but she felt like she should ask anyways.

"It's been a very long day…"

"Yeah," she laughed bitterly, "You could say that...I was talking to Jada earlier, she told me something, about Carl. He was outside the door when we had that talk about Shane, he heard pretty much everything."

"Fuck." Lori breathed out, closing her eyes tight.

"Yeah…" It was quiet for a very long time. She had almost decided to get up when Lori spoke again.

"I'm sorry…" Lori met her eyes, though it was too dark to really see, "About what happened to you...to Daryl. That was a mistake."

"Not your job to apologize." Renee shook her head, "It's not your fault. I'm sorry...about what I said in there, about Shane...and you...that was out of line." Renee swallowed, it would have been one thing to bring up alone with Lori, but she'd practically blurted it out in front of the group, her husband, and apparently her child...she was a class A dick.

"So you knew? About me and Shane?" Lori took a shaky breath.

"When I first met you guys, back on the highway?" Renee shook her head and forced a smile, "I thought you guys were married. I just always assumed...it wasn't even till Rick came back that I really figured it out. I accidently brought it up with Shane while we were on the road, he didn't exactly deny it…" She trailed off, and looked at Lori's silhouetted form, "I promise I never brought it up with anyone. It was your business...I was just...upset in there."

"It's fine. Rick already knew...he'd known for a while, he didn't bring it up until I told him about the baby." She said, watching the fire.

"How is that? The pregnancy I mean," she bit her lip, "You doing okay? I can make a run if you need me too - I've been thinking about going out soon anyways, I need some stuff."

Lori took a deep breath, "I'm scared. I'm scared to give birth, and I'm scared to bring a child into _this _world," she took a long breath, "I'm scared of Shane. I told him about the baby, the other day...he thinks, no, he _knows _it's his." She looked back to Renee, "I'm scared of what he's going to do."

"Is it? His I mean, do you know?"

She shook her head, "It doesn't matter. Shane's not the father, no matter whose it is, Rick's going to be the father. I can't trust Shane after...he lied to me you know? Told me Rick was dead…"

"He did that to protect you...he told me, when he convinced me not to tell Daryl about Merle. He wanted you to be safe."

"I know." She put her head in her hands, "That's what scares me. And after all of this? What he did to you, and to Daryl?" She shook her head, "I want him around about as much as you do."

"What about Rick?"

"Shane's been his best friend since they were twelve...I don't think he knows what to do anymore." Renee wondered what she would've done, if she were in his position. If Anna had been the one to lose it...would she able to make that call?

"I'm sorry all of this had to happen." Renee leaned back in her chair, absentmindedly watching the stars.

"You did the right thing...keeping the guns. If we had gotten kicked off this farm…" Renee shared the sentiment, this was the best thing that could have happened to the kids. They could have a safe childhood, be as happy as any kid could be at the end of the world. Maybe this would even become normal to Jada, she was so young. Was she really going to make her go back out there if Shane wasn't sent out? She smiled bitterly at the burning coals, pick your poison. "Carl was a c-section you know? I've got narrow hips."

Renee nodded, understanding, "You need Hershel."

"Yeah. If I give birth out there...on the road…"

She didn't have to finish the sentence, they both knew exactly what would happen.

* * *

><p>Morning came earlier than she would have liked. She avoided heading up to the house for as long as possible - halfheartedly poking at undercooked eggs. Everyone's minds weren't really there today. She had wanted to go visit Daryl, but from what she'd heard Shane was awake...he'd be at the meeting today. Daryl still wasn't really allowed to move all that much, but everyone else would be there.<p>

She was worried, about Shane being there, she didn't know how he would take it. He wouldn't be armed, but even if he was he wouldn't try anything - too many eyes. Still this wasn't going to be a peaceful discussion, she knew that much.

Her heart beat a little faster when she saw Beth coming down from the house, she was going to be babysitting today. It was best if the kids weren't around for this. Lori had told Beth to make extra certain that Carl didn't wander off.

She kissed Jada on the head and sent her off to play with the older girl. Jada had taken a liking to Beth, she was a sweet girl, she did well with kids.

It was time to make a decision, she just prayed that it would be the one she wanted, she didn't want to lose what she had here. It wasn't just the farm it was the family, she didn't want to face that world, but she certainly didn't want to face it alone.

Shane didn't look up when she and Lori entered side by side. It was nice, having Lori next to her, just knowing she was there. All she wanted to do was rest her head on the older woman's shoulder like that night in the CDC, and have her stroke her hair. Though at this point Lori probably needed it just as much as she did. He was watching the floor, elbows resting on his knees. Rick was already sitting opposite him, the coffee table in between.

Lori took the seat next to Rick. Renee settled onto the armrest on Lori's other side as the rest of the group filtered in. How was this supposed to work? Was it a trial, were they just talking? Would they vote and let it be done with? A lot of her wanted to just walk down the hall, and take up Daryl's offer on a nap.

She just closed her eyes and waited for someone to cut the silence. Hershel and Maggie had come in, they had just as much right as the rest of the group, this was their farm after all. Their dead people.

Finally, Rick spoke, "I told you, I was working something out with Hershel."

Shane's shoulders shook with a short bitter laugh, "That's why you've got everyone gathered in here? Public scolding?" Rick was fighting to find his words.

Dale jumped in in his stead, "We're here because you tried to kill two of our group."

"Only after they had their weapons pointed at me," he scoffed, "I was being threatened."

"Not with lethal force!" Dale argued, "I don't think Daryl has those bruises on his neck because you were trying to disarm him!"

"No," Andrea cut in, "Shane's right, they shouldn't have brought weapons into the mix."

Renee laughed bitterly, trying to ignore the nerves spreading through her limbs from her chest. She didn't speak though, she couldn't think of words to say. She didn't have an argument to give...she was just waiting, and she felt utterly useless.

"Hershel?" Rick looked up, "Is there anything you want to say?"

"I can't say what you and your group do is my business, but if you want to stay," Hershel met Shane's stare with a steady gaze, "You're going to need to respect my choices. Is that clear?" Shane wouldn't respond.

Rick nodded slowly, "Do you deny you had intent to kill Renee and Daryl?"

Shane didn't say anything.

Rick's mouth twisted down, "Do you deny you had intent to kill Renee and Daryl?" He repeated, his words forcing their way out, hard like steel.

"The walkers are a threat," Shane growled.

"Were you going to kill Renee and Daryl?!" Rick met his stare with even measure, fire for every bit of Shane's ice.

"I would if it would protect you!" Shane yelled, standing suddenly. His eyes kept finding Lori. "You know what the walkers can do," he almost seemed to be pleading, "You've seen it." She had the distinct feeling he wasn't addressing Rick anymore, "She was in the way," He jabbed a finger at Renee, "she was going to get us all killed. If she had backed off, if that redneck weren't so damned attached to her, things wouldn't have had to go down like that!" Renee glanced at Lori, her jaw was tight, her lips pressed tight so that skin turned pale.

"The walker's weren't your choice to make," Rick growled, "Renee and Daryl's lives weren't your choice to make!"

"You're really telling me you're okay with having your pregnant wife ten feet away from death in a fucking box?" Shane almost sounded like he could laugh. The group's eyes all found Lori, most of them hadn't known.

"We need this farm Shane, we need Hershel, you risked all of that when you decided to go off on your own-"

"I did it to protect her!" Shane roared, that cold light snapping into his eyes.

"It wasn't your choice!" Rick yelled back, standing.

"Oh yeah?" Shane brought a hand to his head, and frowned as he nodded, "Wasn't my choice, huh?"

"No, no it wasn't."

"Look me in the eye, Rick. Look me in the eye and tell me that that baby is yours." Shane growled, low and and cold. "Tell me!" He screamed suddenly and everyone jumped.

"It's Rick's," Lori's voice cut clear through the resounding quiet, "The baby is Rick's. I've told you that before Shane, you don't have a place in this family, not anymore."

The light disappeared from Shane's eyes, he blinked, face blank. It almost seemed as if he had forgotten to breathe.

"Get out," Rick said, his chest rose and fell in sharp quick bursts. "I want you to get out!"

Shane didn't need anymore prompting. He stormed out of the house, Andrea followed, calling for him to wait. Renee helplessly met Lori's eyes, she looked like she was about to cry. Lori was the next to leave, choking back a noise as she slammed the kitchen door behind her. Renee followed, closing the door much more quietly.

Her shoulders were shaking, head hung low, as she stared at a pile of dirty dishes in the sink.

"Lori?" Renee's voice quivered as she placed a hand on the other woman's back. Lori did her best to stifle a cry as she buried her face into Renee's shoulder, and finally gave up, chest heaving with a sob. Renee did exactly what Lori would have done for her, brought a hand to her hair, and let her cry.

Things were going to be different now.

Lori cried for a while, but eventually with teary eyes and a red nose she pulled back, "Carl," her voice cracked over the name, "I'm going to need to talk to Carl...he loves Shane so much."

"He'll understand," Renee tried to assure her.

"Will he?" Lori didn't seem so convinced. To be fair neither was Renee. She glanced out the kitchen window, Shane's tent, his Hyundai, they were all gone. So were Andrea's clothes off the line, her heart sunk. Andrea had been so worried about him being alone...she would have yelled at her if she could have, though she knew if Andrea came walking back up the drive right now, she'd run out and give her a hug.

She didn't need to lose anymore friends.

Jada was coloring with Beth, using a rock as a makeshift table. Rick was with Carl, it looked like Lori wasn't the only one who was crying.

"Oh god," Lori muttered, doing her best to dry her eyes as she hurried out the door. Her family needed her.

* * *

><p>Renee took a deep breath and headed down the hall, Daryl had to have heard at least the end of that. He'd be wondering about what happened, if he hadn't figured it out already. He was awake when she came in, chest rising and falling rhythmically with the whirr of the machine. He didn't say anything as she came to sit beside him, she was still unsteady with nerves. She kinda hoped he wouldn't notice.<p>

"Sounded like it got ugly." He said, glancing at her.

"Shane's gone. I think Andrea left too."

"How're you doing?"

She smiled and shook her head, letting her eyes fall shut, "I'm so tired."

Daryl bit his lip, "Still plenty of room in the bed."

"I don't want to mess you up more than you already are," she laughed, "I don't know how you're still alive. Did you start fights this much before?"

He brought his thumb to his teeth, awkwardly pushing around the tubes in his nose, "Probably more…" He mumbled, and she laughed again, shaking her head. "Don't think any of them hit as hard as Shane...and honestly?" He smiled, "Merle was better back up."

"Hey I knocked him out!"

"Yeah, only after you let him tear me a new asshole." He muttered, glaring playfully. It was nice just to talk like this, make light of everything. Actually it was kind of weird, she didn't know what drugs were in that IV, but Daryl had been oddly talkative.

"Well I'm sorry, I'll try and find you a new wingman...how about Glenn?"

"If you can get his head out of his dick," Daryl said with a short laugh, he winced. She was about to respond when a thick yawn caught her, bringing tears to her eyes. "Lay down, Sunshine," he insisted.

"Maybe for a minute," she mumbled, going around to the other side of the bed. She didn't even bother to pull herself under the covers, just curled up next to him, nose in the hollow between his shoulder and his throat. She felt his lips in her hair, his fingers around hers.

Things were going to be different now. But they'd be good, she let her lips trail over his shoulder. Things were going to be good.

**Wow that was a very dialogue heavy chapter, like it was around 5,000 words but a good 14 or so pages. Actually we're getting really close to 200 pages, which is insane, I've never written this much for anything before. I'll probably be adding a few more songs to playlist either tonight or tomorrow morning. The link is on my page. I hope you guys enjoyed! And I hope I hear back from you, let me know what you think! **

**I'll update as soon as I can! See ya then!**


	19. Monkeys

**Well all that Shane drama's done with, I think this chapter is going to be a bit of breather. This'll be a bit more fluff and character development than plot advancement, but fluff and character development are just as fun hahaha. I've now updated the playlist with five or six more songs, link can be found on my profile. **

**Thanks to everyone who has followed and favorited. Shout out to mmsmith1945 for being the 100th follower! Special thanks to redangel2463, sillygabby, my-forgotten-rose, las131984, and Guest for the reviews! **

**Chapter 19 - Monkeys **

She hadn't come in to visit him today. Carol had been by to bring him some food, stayed to talk for a while. He'd been hoping the conversation would stay off Sophia, even if Carol had given up he wasn't done looking yet. Though this nagging feeling in his gut told him that it had been a very long time since she went missing - well over a week now. He shook his head, he was too tired to be thinking about that.

He had no idea why he was so sleepy, he didn't exactly do anything. Just laid in bed all day. Must have been the drugs they were giving him, pain killers or something. Whatever they were they didn't work all that well, back in the old days Merle could have hooked him up with some real heavy shit, he'd be off smoking daisies in la-dee-da land. He'd only ever asked Merle for drugs once, pain killers, he'd broken his leg fourwheeling with some friends - bad compound fracture, still had the scar on his shin where the bone had poked through.

Didn't have insurance so once they'd patched him up they booted him out of the hospital, that damn leg was going to drive him crazy without something to take the edge off. Now it was breathing that hurt, which was unfortunate considering that while he didn't have to walk to live, breathing was at least somewhat necessary.

Renee normally stopped by two or three times a day. Once in the early morning before Jada was willing to be woken up, once late at night after Jada was already asleep, and sometimes she'd fit in another sometime in the afternoon. She hadn't come in the morning, and it was already past dinner - still no sign of her.

Honestly he was bored out of his mind. It was bad enough being locked up in this room on that damn machine all day, but she'd been keeping him sane. They didn't always talk, sometimes she'd give him soft kisses - he hadn't kissed her first yet, he liked to tell himself it was just because he couldn't sit up all that well - sometimes she'd just lay down beside him and close her eyes. Things had been kind of difficult recently - Hershel was letting them stay on the farm, but they had to pull their weight. That meant everything from gardening and feeding chickens, to helping drag the dead back into the barn.

She'd done that once or twice, though he'd told her to avoid it - a ten foot poll wasn't nearly long enough when it came to touching walkers.

On top of all the extra work there was still the matter of food. Hershel hadn't been planning on ten extra people for the long term. They needed the chickens for eggs, and most of the cows were pregnant apparently, from before - they'd be giving milk once spring got closer. So at the moment they were down to canned food and whatever came out of the garden. He was getting tired of rabbit food, but he couldn't exactly get up and go hunting.

Well he could, but Renee would kill him if his lung didn't give out first.

He was starting to get worried, though he knew he shouldn't be. If something had happened someone would have come told him. She was okay, probably just busy. He'd ask when Hershel came in, man kept poking needles in his side four or five times a day. It was necessary, but he was getting tired of it real fast.

He sighed and closed his eyes, nothing much to do but sleep.

Daryl blinked. "Sorry," Hershel said, placing a clean needle into a syringe, "Didn't mean to wake you."

"S'fine…" Daryl mumbled, keeping a straight face as the needle pinched through his skin.

"How have you been feeling?" Hershel asked, slowly pulling the plunger on the syringe back.

"Better. Ribs still hurt like a bitch," he said. Letting his eyes fall closed, "You seen Renee anywhere? She hasn't been in today."

"I think she went hunting," Hershel said.

"She get back yet?"

"Well Jada's still upstairs with Beth, so I'd suppose not." Hershel said, drawing the needle back out of his side.

"When'd she leave?" Daryl frowned.

"Early this morning. Jada practically had to carried in the door." Hershel chucked, "She's a cute kid." He must have seen the worried look on Daryl's face, "Don't worry, son. Renee's gonna be just fine, she's tough."

Daryl nodded, watching Hershel walk out the door. Why hadn't she told him she was leaving? He didn't like the idea of her being out there alone, what if something went wrong? She was a good shot, but she hadn't proven to be the most reliable one. He glanced out the window, it was dark. She should have been back by now, wasn't safe to be wandering around at night...walkers and worse.

He shook his head, she'd be okay.

* * *

><p>Renee could scream. She'd been at this for hours, how the hell did Daryl do it? She had been planning on just making a quick trip shoot a few squirrels, and come back in time to help Carol harvest the broccoli with Patricia. They'd have fresh meat with dinner. Except it was now well past dinner time, and about to be dark. There was no way in hell she was giving up now though. She had the damn deer's trail, and she was going to get it.<p>

It had been a surprise, seeing that little doe - with big eyes and a soft gaze. They'd just kind of stumbled upon each other, watching each other in confusion just for a moment, and then she'd put an arrow in her shoulder. Inches, she'd missed by inches, if she could have just had a clean kill she'd be back home by now. Instead she was following blood spatters and staggered footprints. The doe was limping, she'd slowed down. It was too late to turn back now, she'd never make it home before dark, but she might make it to the deer.

If she was going to risk walking back to the farm late, it wasn't going to be with three squirrels. Jada had proven to be a picky eater when it came vegetables, she ate them anyways, because she knew it was worse to be hungry, but Renee would like to giver her a treat. There weren't enough squirrels to go around, but a deer, that could feed everyone for at least a couple days.

She was really hoping she'd find her soon, it was going to be too dark to see the trail in a few minutes, and she really didn't want to spend the night out in the woods. She hadn't even brought a flashlight. Daryl would tell her she was being stupid, and she would have told him he was right. She knew damn well this was a bad idea, but his stubborn streak was rubbing off on her.

Something shifted in the trees ahead of her, and the neon orange fletching of her arrows flashed through the undergrowth. Finally. The doe wasn't moving, she looked tired, it had been a very long hunt. Slowly she drew an arrow from her quiver, and nocked it. She needed to make this shot, there was no way in hell she was letting that deer run off again.

The doe looked startled as the arrow pierced her skull. The troubling part was that the doe hadn't seemed startled by her, in the hazy halflight, Renee suddenly became very aware that there was something else out there.

The walker lazily stumbled out of the undergrowth towards the doe's body, "Oh no you don't you son of bitch." She couldn't get a good shot as the walker fell to it's knees to eat, so she did the only thing she could. She drew her knife, and ran at it, blade crunching through bone just before it laid it's rotting hands on a very long days work. With a kick she dislodged the body and pushed it away from her doe.

It wasn't the biggest deer, but that was probably for the best. She just wasn't going to be able to carry some two hundred pound buck.

"Alright…" she mumbled to herself, the forest was quickly fading from purple to black, "How're we gonna do this?"

* * *

><p>Daryl still hadn't gone to sleep. He'd been worried earlier, but now he about ready to say fuck it and go looking for her himself. Carol had come in a few times to keep him company, apparently everyone else was almost as worried as he was. She wasn't supposed to be gone this long. Jada had come down to visit him - she'd been coming with Renee every once in a while, he was starting to like the kid - and had fallen asleep with her head on his arm.<p>

She was drooling. He decided to ignore it.

It wasn't like she had anywhere better to go. Renee wasn't in their tent, so his bed was as good a place as any. He closed his eyes and growled in frustration, what the hell was she doing out there?

Voices in the hallway caught his attention, he couldn't make out words, but footsteps were coming towards the door. He did his best to sit up, wincing as he pushed himself higher on his pillow. Jada groaned in protest, little hands gripping his arm harder. A weight lifted off his chest when he saw Renee in the doorway. She was covered in dirt and a bit of blood, but she had the biggest grin on her face.

"Daryl, guess what?" That smile just kept getting bigger. The hell had she done?

"What?" He humored her.

"I got a deer!" So that's what had taken her so long. Jada groaned again at all the commotion, blinking blearily.

"Renee?" She asked, lifting her head from his arm.

"Hey, sweetie," Renee flounced over, kissed Jada on the top of her head, kissed him chastely on the lips, and then laid herself out on the chair next to him like she was queen of the world. He smiled, she was so proud of herself. It would have been more endearing if she hadn't almost given him a heart attack, but she was okay, and that's what mattered.

"Where were you?" Jada asked, the kid had been worried too. The last time Renee had disappeared off into the woods for a while hadn't gone well.

"I was getting you something for breakfast," she smiled, a slight teasing tone to her voice, "Would you like some deer bacon in the morning?" She glanced over at him, "You can make bacon out of deer right?"

He shook his head, she was cute when she was excited, "Not overnight."

She turned back to Jada, "Would you like some deer in the morning?"

"What's it taste like?" Jada asked, mulling it over.

"You've had it before, remember? Daryl brought one back when we were still in Atlanta." She said, and Jada nodded sleepily.

"Oh. Are you gonna sleep now?" Jada asked hopefully.

"No," Daryl cut in, "She's gonna go dress that deer."

"Yeah…" Renee trailed off and he rolled his eyes, she'd always hated gutting squirrels. He hadn't figured she'd like deer any better.

"Why would you dress a dead deer?" Jada asked, and he let out a low laugh. Kid was probably picturing them dressed up in sundresses or some shit, he shook his head, kinda macabre.

"You don't put clothes on it," he explained, "You take out it's guts and skin it."

"That sounds gross." Jada's lip curled.

"It is gross." Renee agreed, smiling at her little girl. He remembered the first time he'd shown her how to dress a squirrel, she'd looked like she was going to throw up. It was more annoying than anything else back then, the way she'd pick at the innards all squeamish like. After ten minutes of complaining about how slimy it was, he'd gotten impatient, taken it from her, and had it gutted and skinned in about two.

She'd gotten better about it since then, he was pretty sure he'd hurt her pride that day. He'd still catch her making faces when they were dressing game, but she never said anything anymore.

"You better get goin'," he nodded at her, "Meat's gonna rot if you don't clean it."

"Yeah…" He shook his head, and pushed himself up farther, ignoring protest from Jada and Renee both. "Daryl lay back down!" She tried to push at his shoulder, but he brushed her off, suppressing a groan as he put one leg over the bed then the other.

"Need to get the deer dressed, Red. You've never done it before...you can do the heavy liftin', I'll just make sure you don't fuck up." He pushed himself to his feet and pulled out those god damned tubes. Breathing without them was a bit harder, but it wasn't bad, Hershel had said he would have been able to take if off in a few days anyways.

"Daryl!" She snapped as he walked to the dresser, a few of his shirts were folded on the top. He was acutely aware of the scars that traced over his back, she'd seen them before, didn't mean he wanted her looking at them all the time. Or Jada for that matter, at least he knew Renee wouldn't ask questions. "Daryl, please!"

He shook his head as he struggled to tug the shirt on, he heard an exasperated groan and soft hands ran down his back as she gently pulled the shirt down. He thanked her silently, meeting her eyes for a second, before turning towards the door. She made another annoyed noise, but she knew protesting wasn't going to make him lay back down.

"Jada why don't you go back to sleep?" Renee said, as they got to the door. The little girl was halfway out of bed already, she shook her head.

"I wanna come."

"Jada it's late," Renee said firmly.

"Pleaassee!" Jada begged, kicking her feet against the bed.

Renee sighed, "I thought you said it was gross."

"Yep," Jada nodded with a smile, jumping off the bed, and practically skipping out past them. Renee shook her head and he had to try not to laugh, he really liked this kid.

* * *

><p>He was pretty unsteady on his feet, he'd had to lean on Renee all the way down the hall. Everyone had been pretty surprised to see him up, Hershel had told him he needed to be resting, but he blew him off. Renee sent the older man an apologetic look, but wasn't trying to drag him back off to bed anymore.<p>

The deer was out in front of the porch, wasn't all that big, but it would have enough meat. There was a hole in it's shoulder, and another in it's head. She must have been tracking it for a while if she was out that long. He shook his head, girl needed to put more thought into this shit. At least they had the deer.

"We're gonna need some buckets," he said, "string that deer up from one of these trees, and put the buckets out underneath so the guts can fall out into them...gonna need water too, you'll have to run down to the well for that."

Renee groaned, "Daryl...it's almost midnight."

"I ain't the one who dragged a deer back in the middle of the night, Red," he said, doing his best to sound grumpy, but his heart wasn't in it.

"Fine I'll go get the water…" she grumbled, "Jada why don't you go find Glenn? Make him help you find some rope...Daryl just, don't move too much."

"Yes ma'am." Daryl teased, lowering himself down to sit on the steps as Jada disappeared back inside. He didn't know what to think about Renee, well he knew he liked her and everything...just...he wasn't really good at the whole feelings thing. He wasn't going to tell her if he didn't have to, but he'd never been in a relationship before...was that what this was? He'd had a couple hookups, and one hooker after a few shots of tequila and Merle's insistence, but the whole settling down thing hadn't been a priority - or for that matter even something he wanted.

There was too much shit that could go wrong. Now everything could go wrong, and she was at high risk of dying a horrible death, but for some reason here he was.

Renee came back with buckets and water, Glenn and Jada had run back and forth hectically - at Jada's insistence, Glenn looked like he'd give anything to just lay down - looking for ropes. Eventually everything was in order, he showed her how to tie the knots, and she and Glenn hoisted it up into the tree.

"You gonna stick around?" Renee asked Glenn, as Daryl - who had slowly made his way over to their tree - pulled out his buck knife.

"No. Not at all." Glenn looked a little sick.

Daryl scoffed as he walked away, "Kid can eat shrimp ramen, but can't look at deer guts?"

Renee raised a brow, "Honey, if you think shrimpy noodles are worse than blood soaked intestines, then you got some priorities that need to be sorted." She broke out into another smile, and he couldn't help but to smile with her.

He shook his head and handed her the knife, "Cut here," he traced his finger up the doe's mid-section, "Don't go too deep-"

"Yeah, yeah, guts and contaminated meat I know - It's like a squirrel, just bigger, gotta pull the intestines out with it's asshole," she grumbled in an astonishingly deep voice with an over exaggerated accent. He blinked as she broke out into giggles, the hell was that? "You don't remember? Back in Atlanta, you had brought that deer back, you started explaining to me how to dress it then." He nodded, yeah he remembered that...then why the hell was he doing this now, he could be asleep, let her deal with this shit, "I made Jada pretend she had a belly ache to get out of actually doing it, we went on a walk in the woods instead, went swimming in a creek we found."

"I remember that!" Jada said excitedly, "We caught crawdads!"

"No, I caught crawdads," Renee sighed, "And you laughed while they pinched me." Jada giggled at that.

"Just cut the damn deer, Red," he said, shaking his head.

"Can I do it?" Jada asked, reaching for the knife.

Renee shook her head, "Sorry, sweetie, I think you're a bit too short." The kid looked disappointed, first little girl he'd met that actively wanted to gut things.

"Why don't you keep your hands down here," he pointed to the lower part of where Renee would be cutting, "When all the guts fall out, you're gonna need to guide'em down into the buckets, alright? Don't let them spill everywhere, gonna be hell to clean up," he said, and she eagerly followed his instructions.

"Yes, and it'll be so easy to clean them off of my child." Renee deadpanned, sending him a glare. Knife held nonchalantly next to the deer. He rolled his eyes, it was just a bit of blood.

"It's fine, me'n Merle have pulled em out by hand all the time," he brought his thumb to his teeth, "won't hurt it her."

"It just can't be sanitary," she argued.

"Red, you've been soaked in walker guts before, and you ain't dead yet. Won't kill her to get her hands dirty."

"Okay one, that wasn't voluntary." She always seemed to forget how much she talked with her hands, which wasn't normally an issue, unless she happened to be holding a huge ass knife, "And two, I do not want to go wash deer guts off of her before bed, it is far too late for that."

"Alright," he gently wrapped his hand around the one holding the knife, "Calm down, she doesn't have to do it." She glared at him, though she didn't really mean it, and rolled her eyes. "Just stop stallin and cut the deer, we ain't got all night."

She grumbled something under her breath, he thought he heard the word redneck. He smiled. Didn't know how he'd gotten so wrapped up in this girl, and sometimes he wasn't sure how much he liked it, didn't know where she was for a couple hours and he was ready to go rolling down another cliff to find her. Still he couldn't deny the feeling he got when he saw her smile, when she kissed him, warmth spreading through his battered chest. Couldn't forget the feeling he got when he watched that gun press into her head, that part wasn't so pleasant.

Her face was all screwed up with concentration as she carved a haphazard line down the middle of the deer, she was thinking too hard again. He wouldn't be surprised if she didn't cut deep enough of all things. It took a while, but finally the insides slipped out, and they were cutting out the tricky bits.

Jada had gotten bored, Renee wouldn't let her work with the knife, half the time Daryl wasn't letting Renee work with the knife, it was dark, and he didn't want her doing anything that could fuck up the meat. He'd rather not waste it all, there were going to be other deer she could work on later. The little girl was laying out in the grass, absentmindedly ripping up blades as she waited for the adults to giver her a job to do.

Most everyone else had gone to back to their tents by now, it was pretty quiet.

"You shouldn't have come back so late," Daryl said as he started to work around the heart.

"And who are you know?" She joked, "My mother?"

"I'm being serious Renee, ain't safe out in those woods." She rolled her eyes, and he scowled, she didn't seem to give a shit about her own safety. She'd gone off for the whole day, hadn't told a damn person where she was going, how long she'd be gone - they wouldn't have known where to start looking or when. "Specially not alone."

She nodded, a bit of a smile pulling at her lips though she tried to hide it, "So you're saying that I shouldn't go wandering into the woods by myself, on a whim, just 'cause I can?"

"...Yeah."

"So this isn't a monkey-see, monkey -do kinda deal?" She asked as he handed her the knife so she could cut out the lungs.

He blinked, "What?"

"Just saying, I was yelling at you for the same thing a few days ago, and as I recall, I'm not the one who came back looking half dead." She was starting to sound a bit less playful and more annoyed. He fought back a wince as he took a deep breath, he didn't want to be starting a fight...just was concerned.

"That was different…"

"Was it?" She asked sharply, letting the lungs fall into the bucket, "Cause I remember being pretty damn worried when you still hadn't shown up, and I remember being utterly terrified when I saw your body hit the ground."

He bit his lip, "What're you saying, Red?"

"If you're gonna be so overprotective," She bent down to grab one of the buckets of water, "You gotta stop being so reckless with yourself. It's like you forget that people are capable of caring about you," she said, splashing the water into the doe's empty carcass.

They worked without talking from then on. He was pretty sure she was pissed at him, as he watched her silently hack off the doe's hooves. By the time they were ready to skin it Jada had already fallen asleep in the grass, it had to be one or two in the morning. Renee had offered to take her to bed more than once, but the kid insisted on staying up. If she'd managed to keep her eyes open a bit longer Renee was going to let her help peel the skin back, but Jada was already snoring.

* * *

><p>It took another hour to get most of the skin off, he took care of that while she found a shovel to bury the guts with.<p>

"You almost done?" She asked when she'd finished.

"Almost."

"You sure that isn't too much strain?" Her voice had grown softer again, but he could tell she still wasn't happy. Maybe he was being a hypocrite, but he was just worried, though he supposed she was too.

"I'm fine, Red." He grunted, pulling the skin back over the haunches.

"I'm gonna go put Jada to bed," she sighed, rinsing her hands in one of the clean buckets of water, "I'll be back." She straightened, picked up a dead-out Jada, and headed off towards her tent. He watched her go, her form disappearing off into the shadows. Maybe he should apologize? That was another thing he wasn't good at...apologies and feelings.

He'd finished skinning it by the time she came back. They doused it in water and left it in the tree to age, the temperature wouldn't be too bad, just one night would be fine. She helped him back up the stairs, down the hall and to his room.

"You need help laying down?" She asked when they reached his door.

"Nah, I'll be fine." He watched her in the shadowy candlelight, it lit her hair up like fire, and made her eyes burn dark like coals. He didn't think he was losing his breath to the hole in his lung this time. Sometimes he forgot how beautiful she was.

"Alright," she frowned absentmindedly, and turned to go.

"Renee, wait." He sighed. "I'm sorry. Shouldn't've gotten on your case like that."

She offered him a thin smile and a raised brow, "You saying I should just go off into the woods alone?"

"No," he shook his head, "Just that, we need to accept the fact that we ain't gonna be able to protect each other all the time."

"You really think you can do that?" Her smile softened a bit.

He hummed out a laugh, "Can you?" Her gaze drifted off to the side as she bit her lip. Yeah he didn't know if he could either.

"Well, goodnight, Daryl." She turned around again.

He wanted to tell her a lot things. He wanted to tell her how it drove him crazy wondering where she was all day. He wanted to tell her that all he'd thought about when he was stumbling home with that doll was seeing her again. He wanted to tell her that everyday he wondered if the joy was worth the fear, until he saw her smile. He wanted to tell her how much he just wanted to hold her.

But he had never been good with words. So he grabbed her shoulder, pulled her back around, and this time he kissed her first.

He ignored the pain in his chest, bracing one arm against the wall above her head, the other around her waist. Her lips were soft, and she smelled of well water and blood. There was an insistence to the kiss that they hadn't had before, he ignored the tingles that raced up and down his spine and made his heart beat, and moved his lips against hers. He had stopped thinking, just gripped her tighter as he kissed her harder, lightly sucking at her bottom lip.

She moaned softly, and for a second he thought joy could drive him crazy too.

Their lips parted, and they both gasped for the breaths they had forgotten to take. It took a moment for his head to clear as he watched her dark eyes, the steady rise and fall of her chest.

"I should go," she said, not taking her eyes off his, "I shouldn't leave Jada alone too long." He nodded, "You need to get your sleep too...you sure you don't need help getting into bed?"

"I'm fine, Sunshine," he whispered, he hadn't let her go yet, so she had to untangle herself from him.

She was about to turn around again when she said, "Hey, Daryl?" He blinked, as she pushed herself up onto her tiptoes, cupped his cheek and kissed him sweetly once, "Goodnight."

He watched her go with a smile. She was worth it.

**We didn't have any Daryl POV the last two chapters, so I decided to make up for it with this one. It was hella fluffy, which I think they deserved after the the mildly stressful events of the past four chapters. Poor guys needed a break. So what'd'ya guys think? I hope to hear back from you all, and I hope you enjoyed! **

**I'll update as soon as I can! See ya then! **


	20. The Children

**Alright chapter twenty! I'm getting real close to 100,000, I've never actually written this much for one story in my entire life. Like I've normally given up long before this point haha so I'm going to stick with this one , I've already come too far. This chapter is going to be a healthy mix of fluff and plot, not a ton of Renyl this chapter though - shucks...didn't really fit in anywhere though. There will be a lot of it next chapter though hahaha. **

**Anyways, hope you guys enjoy! Thanks to everyone who has followed and favorited. Special thanks to starcrier, Inkandtrees, sillygabby, las131984, redangel2463, XXBlackfireXX, Kyokkou, and Crazyhumor for the reviews. **

**Chapter 20 - The Children**

"You can't catch me!" Jada shrieked, "Can't catch me!" She was giggling and whooping as she sprinted through the yard, Renee's left boot in hand.

"Oh you bet?" Renee laughed breathlessly, running barefoot behind her. Jada was very short, but dear god she was fast. She'd dodge and dart this way and that, ducking out of Renee's grasp at every chance she got. "Come back here!" She called through a smile as Jada sprinted out of reach.

"You can't catch me!" Jada taunted again, waving the boot about in front of her.

Renee put her hands over her head, taking in deep, heavy breaths, "You're right," with a sigh she doubled over, putting her hands on her knees, "I can't do it."

"You can't?" Jada almost sounded surprised, edging ever so slightly closer. Renee ducked her head to hide a smirk.

"Nope, you're too fast, kid. Regular Flash Gordon over here." Renee heaved out an over exaggerated cough.

"What's a Flash Gordon?" She asked, she was almost close enough.

"He's a superhero, he could run real fast," Renee explained.

"And I can run real fast?" Jada smiled, proud of herself, "Faster than you?"

Renee nodded, "Uh-huh…" She grinned, "But I'm sneakier." With a playful roar she lunged forward, and Jada shrieked, and squirmed, and laughed as Renee tickled her ribs.

"Stop!" Jada giggled, "Stop it!" Sitting down hard.

"Oh you want me to stop, huh?" Renee laughed, as Jada giggled helplessly, her face all scrunched up and her eyes closed as she kicked and wiggled.

"Y-Y-Yes!" Jada struggled to get the words out.

"What're you gonna give me?" Jada just squealed, "What're you gonna give me?"

"Your," she broke down into laughter, "Your, your boot!" Just like that Renee stopped and all was quiet. They'd gathered a bit of an audience, the group was looking on with smiles as they ate their morning eggs. Jada gasped for breath as she laid in the dewy grass, her cheeks still spread in a smile. With a dramatic sigh of defeat the boot was held in the hair, and Renee grabbed it before Jada changed her mind. Jada kicked and laughed as Renee tickled her one last time, before sitting down next to her, and rolling on the socks she'd stuff in her pocket.

The other boot had been dropped a couple feet away, she strained to reach it as she glanced at the porch. Daryl had come outside, he watching them from his spot leaning against the rail. She grinned and waved at him, he nodded back, and started to make his way down the steps. He was still sleeping inside so he'd have the ventilator at night, but Hershel was letting him be up and about as long as he didn't do anything dumb.

"Hey Renee!" Maggie called, she'd actually been eating breakfast with them pretty often, she and Glenn had patched things up. Renee was actually starting to like her a lot, something had happened...and she didn't know what, she wasn't going to ask, but she didn't seem as naive as she used to be. "You coming or what!?"

"Lemme get my shoes on!" She yelled back, "Geez!" She shook her head and smiled, looking at Jada, "So, are you gonna help Patricia in the garden again today?" Jada had taken a shine to that particular chore, Renee wasn't sure if it was the plants or the fact that she got to dig in the dirt and play with worms that was the real draw, but whatever made her happy made her happy. It was good for her to be doing something, Carl hadn't exactly been himself since Shane left, and with Sophia gone...Jada didn't really have any kids to play with.

Renee couldn't thank Beth enough for how much time she spent with Jada, but still, she was starting to worry. Jada was a kid, she needed other kids to do...kid stuff.

"Uh-huh! We're planting root vegetables today," Jada said, emphasizing every syllable on vegetable.

"Well I hope you have fun," Renee said, standing up, "Why don't you go finish your breakfast? I'll see you at lunch," Renee leaned down and kissed her forehead, "I love you, sweetie. Be good, okay?"

"Love you too." Jada responded, and Renee smiled. Time to go to work.

She'd pulled the short straw this time, she was feeding the walkers. An unfortunate task that she heard involved chicken maiming. Honestly wrangling walkers was better, at least then she was so preoccupied with not getting herself bit that she didn't have time to think about what she was doing. Now she'd have all the time in the world to mull it over while she broke chicken legs...at least she wasn't doing it alone.

* * *

><p>"So, you used to be a pre-med student before?" Maggie took the fourth chicken Renee had handed her, and easily snapped it's leg. It was amazing how normal that seemed to her. The chicken squawked and screamed, and flapped around in vain as she loaded it into a burlap sack. What had their lives come to?<p>

"How'd you know that?" Renee asked, brow furrowing, she didn't remember telling her.

"Glenn told me. He talks about you guys a lot." Maggie said fondly as yet another chicken screamed. Renee had seen a lot of shit since the world ended, why was this the moment that struck her as odd?

"Oh God…" she groaned.

Maggie raised an eyebrow, "What?" She laughed a bit nervously.

"What has he told you? That boy knows too much…" One too many boredom stricken rounds of 'never have I ever' with him and Amy meant he had far more dirt on her than any man should. It wasn't just things she'd done either, they'd managed to coerce more than a few of the stories out. He knew things...horrible things. She smiled to herself as she handed Maggie the last chicken to be sacrificed, Atlanta seemed like it was such a long time ago.

"Oh only good things, sometimes kinda boring things." She laughed. The bone snapped, and she placed it in the bag with the others, "T-Dog used to own a record store, Shane and Rick were the genuine buddy cop duo...until…"

"Yeah." No one had really wanted to talk about that. It had been over a week since they'd left, but it was still a touchy subject.

"You were a pre-med student, Carol and Lori were housewives, Dale owned a timeshare. I'm sure you know all this...you make it sound like he's not telling me some things." She smiled mischieviously as she heaved the chickens over her shoulder and they headed for the wheelbarrow waiting outside.

"He definitely is'nt."

"I might have to start asking him." Maggie teased, "And we all know how good he is at keeping secrets." The answer to that was very very bad.

Renee laughed, "Dear god, woman, you're evil. What do you want from me?"

"I'm bored," she shrugged, "Tell me a story. From before." The chickens squawked and struggled as the wheelbarrow jostled against the fence on the way out of the chickencoop. This was only a once a week thing, but she kind of hoped Hershel would decide that eggs were important for people than chickens were for corpses. They kept this up and the group would be down to preserved radishes and whatever she and Daryl managed to scrape together in the woods.

"What kind of story?" She asked, wincing in anticipation of the answer.

"The one that Glenn would tell me if I asked for the most embarrassing thing you've done."

Renee knew exactly which one he would tell, and she did not want to recount it. This was the one she had told them the day Daryl had gotten her her bow. After she'd gotten back, bow and arrows over her shoulder, her RV gang had had their fun - more than a few puns about how Daryl wanted to give her the shaft, and how much she was going to quiver when he did. Simpler times...full of dick jokes...but then they'd pressed her for the story she'd refused to tell them that morning.

She'd had more than a few options to choose from - her tendency towards not thinking things through hadn't just manifested with the dead, it was a long, and suffering affliction - including the day she'd pissed herself on top of a pony at Lucinda Farhat's eighth birthday, that time she tripped down the stairs holding a bottle of spray cheese, the night of the accidental blow job, the wednesday afternoon of the not so accidental blow job in the women's bathroom of a public pool - and the three children who had been scarred for life - but the one that took the cake was what her friends back at school had affectionately referred to as the "pot shit".

"Alright," Renee chuckled, trying to push back a smile, "But let me just remind you now, you asked for this."

"I'm ready." Maggie grinned.

"Okay... so this was freshman year of college. Back home I'd been a pretty straight cut girl, and I don't know...I was experimenting with my options. Anyways, I'd never really been high before. So me and my friends - one of their older brother's was a dealer, so he got a lot cheap - took some marijuana to the back of the Wal-Mart to smoke...and you've been high before right?"

"Oh yes," Maggie's brows raised, and Renee smiled. There had to be a story there too.

"So like, we were all _really_ hungry, and I mean it's Wal-Mart - things are cheap…" She trailed off for a second as they turned down the drive to the barn, "We may or may not have bought seven boxes of twinkies…"

"How many of you were there?" Maggie asked, shocked.

"Four."

"And you-"

"Split them evenly? Yup."

"How many twinkies did you-"

"Seventeen." She'd seen a lot of horrors in the past few months, but remembering that moment she sounded as if she'd watched satan himself climb out of hell. "So just to preface I was really really high, and I'd just eaten seventeen twinkies in under an hour…"

"Did you throw up?" Maggie asked as she wheeled the chickens closer to their doom.

"Oh god I wish I did…" She took a moment to stifle the giggles that she knew were about to come...it didn't work very well, "So I was high, like I had no tolerance for weed yet, so-long-spaceman kind of high...and I really had to take a shit. Like a bad shit." Her voice cracked as she giggled.

Maggie bowed her head as she laughed, "Oh no!"

"I'd somehow convinced myself that the self-checkout machines were toilets…" she paused to try and breath, "I won't go into details...but I fucked over the janitor big time."

Maggie had to stop walking, crouched down and gripping the handles on the wheelbarrow as she struggled to breath. "Oh. My. God! Did you get in trouble?"

Renee could feel her face turning red as she laughed, she nodded, "Five hours later my Dad bailed me out of jail."

"You have more stories like this?" Maggie asked, still flushed from laughter, as they started walking again. They didn't have far to go. Maggie swung the chickens up on her shoulder, and they were heading up the backstairs to the hay loft.

"Oh god, none that bad. What about you? I fessed up, now it's your turn!" Renee grinned as Maggie handed her a struggling chicken, and together they tossed the first couple down into the lower level. The walkers noticed immediately, shambling intently towards the wounded birds.

"Okay...so in college I was in this sorority…" Something caught Renee's eyes and Maggie's words faded into the background, one of the walkers was a lot shorter than the others. Feathers flying up to rest on her pale blue shirt, in her greasy blonde hair. She looked up.

"Oh my god…"

"I know right?" Maggie cackled, chucking another chicken to its death.

"It's Sophia…"

Maggie sobered almost immediately, "What?"

She pointed at the little girl smeared in fresh chicken blood, her lips twisted as the thing growled through red teeth, "I found her."

* * *

><p>Daryl was having a hard time deciding what to do about the temperature. It wouldn't have been so bad if he had any long sleeved shirts left - but as Renee was constantly teasing him for - he'd cut the sleeves off the last one the day he'd found Sophia's doll. He had a leather vest in his tent...his arms would still be a bit cold, but...he'd figure it out later, bit of chilly weather wasn't going to kill him.<p>

"What've you got planned today?" Carol asked, sliding eggs onto his plate, "Hershel let you start doing work yet?"

Daryl shook his head. He was essentially on bed rest, minus bed, and it was getting damn frustrating, "I was thinking of taking my bike up to the highway, check if Sophia's there."

Carol's mouth drew into a thin frown as she sat down with her own plate, "No one's gone up there in a while."

"Well they shoulda been," Daryl growled, stabbing his eggs.

"Bike is kind of bumpy, you sure your ribs can handle that?" She asked, scraping her fork over her ceramic plate.

"I'll be fine."

"You sure? Because this sounds like the kinda thing Renee would hit you upside the head for." Carol smiled, he didn't. "Daryl, I don't...I don't think you should go. I don't want you to."

"Why the hell not?" He asked, trying to keep the bite out of his voice. He knew why, they'd had this conversation before. Didn't mean he was gonna change his mind.

"Daryl, it's almost been a month now...we didn't just forget about Sophia...we're not going to find her." How the hell could she be so resigned to it? He'd found her doll...almost three weeks ago now. Wasn't his fault he'd been laid up so long, but they could have kept looking. They didn't just have to stop cause they got busy playing ranch hand.

"She could be out there!" Daryl argued.

Carol shook her head, "Sophia was always so soft...gentle...I loved her more than anything, but I think I knew for a long time, this wasn't the world she was going to live in." She took another bite of eggs, "You know, she was afraid of the dark. Thirteen years old and she slept with a night light right up to the day the world ended. Ed used to be so mean to her about that…" Daryl still didn't say anything, now he just didn't know what words to use. He hadn't changed his mind, they were going to find her somehow, but he wasn't exactly gonna press the issue anymore. They ate in silence for a while. "Is Renee okay?"

He blinked, "Last time I checked…"

"No, look." Carol was watching the drive up from the barn. Renee and Maggie were walking side by side, they both looked like they'd seen a ghost or something - Renee looked like that ghost had gone right through her. They'd been feeding the walkers, wasn't exactly the most pleasant job, but wasn't that bad...and Maggie was used to it.

She'd been so happy this morning, what the hell had happened in there?

"Carol," her voice quavered, as she approached, "Can I talk to you?" She glanced at Daryl, "Alone."

"Yeah, yeah of course." Carol set her plate down, and followed Renee.

"The hell was that about?" Daryl asked Maggie, watching as Renee finally came to a stop underneath one of the oak trees. She looked like she was trying real hard to find words.

Maggie took a deep breath as she watched them, Carol's bottom lip was starting to tremble as she nodded along to whatever Renee was saying. She was hand talking again, normally her movements were long and loose, but now her hands shook and twisted in on themselves. "We found Sophia."

He blinked, "Where is she?"

"In the barn."

* * *

><p>They'd had to tell everyone. That was hard...it wasn't as hard as telling Carol, but still she'd hated the way her voice quivered when she had to say it again. She'd hated the shaky breaths and resigned sighs, she'd hated the way Jada started crying - even though she was trying to hold it in - and how Carl's face had twisted up. She was also learning to hate that damned living room...nothing good ever seemed to happen there.<p>

Daryl was just staring blankly at a forgotten mug someone had left on the coffee table that morning. She would need to talk to him later...he'd been too quiet.

"So...now what?" Glenn asked, no one really wanted to answer. Renee glanced over at Carol, her eyes were glassy, and her face blotchy, but she wasn't crying anymore. It hurt. It hurt a lot, but they'd all known this was coming for a long time now, maybe except for Daryl. He'd just been so set on finding her...he was too stubborn for his own good.

"We'll take good care of her," Hershel said, not unkindly, though most everyone in the room stiffened, "She'll be safe in the barn." No one knew what to say, Hershel was delusional about a lot things, but they all still had to live with that if they want to live here. Still...this wasn't just some walkers in a barn...this was Sophia. Being left to that rotting hell, that wasn't something any of them wanted for her.

"I'm not letting her stay in that barn." Carol's voice sounded hollow.

"Well, it would be a trick getting her out…" Hershel said, "But we could try to find other accommodations -"

"No." Carol shook her head, "I don't want her body up and walking around. It's not right."

Hershel shook his head, "She's a sick girl, not a body-"

"Hershel," Rick started, "You've been real good to us, and you've been very kind about letting us make our own decisions concerning our group." Rick cocked his head to the side a bit as he thought, running his hands over his mouth, "Sophia's one of ours."

"I've given you a certain level of autonomy yes, but that doesn't mean I'm going to condone murdering a little girl!" Hershel seemed to think they were the crazy ones. Renee shook her head, she wished they'd never needed to have this discussion in the first place.

"Daddy," Maggie had her arms crossed, leaning against the threshold into the living room, "I don't think it's murder." She wouldn't look at him, "Those things...those things aren't people anymore."

"Maggie-"

"No, Daddy! One of those things almost killed me a couple weeks ago! I wouldn't be here if it weren't for Glenn. They aren't sick, they're dead...I don't care what you do with your walkers, but let them make their choice. Let Carol make her choice." Hershel looked dumbfounded, blinking heavily as he searched for words.

"Carol?" The old man looked to her, "Is this really what you want?"

"I don't want my baby to be a monster." Her voice sounded dangerously close to cracking. Hershel nodded, he looked disgusted, she didn't know with who.

"So...what are we going to do?" Glenn repeated, "There's more walkers than Sophia in there."

Hershel suddenly started coughing, and he disappeared into the kitchen. Maggie followed. No one spoke until the door had closed behind her.

"We could get up into the loft," T-Dog offered, "Bring a gun…"

"Crossbow." Daryl spoke for the first time, "It's quieter, I'll do it...we don't want to stir them up. We'll have to go in there for the body."

"Carol?" Rick looked to her, "Do you want to be up there too?" The woman shook her head. He nodded, it wasn't something she would want to see, everyone got that. Daryl looked bitter though, he'd always been so stubborn, "How are we going to get to her...after? There's still the other walkers."

"We could have people outside, pounding on the doors...get the other's attention," Glenn said, "I'll go in the back, get her while the rest are distracted. Renee and Daryl could cover me." He glanced over at her, and she nodded.

At least they'd found her. At least they knew.

* * *

><p>They'd be putting Sophia down in a few hours. Everyone was just taking some time to get ready, though really they didn't need to, at least not technically. Daryl had disappeared into his tent, she'd try to stop and talk with him - just check if he was alright - but he hadn't even looked at her, just walked on by.<p>

It stung, but she was going to let him have his space. He needed it.

Jada was pulling up grass again. It seemed to be one of her favorite past times these days. Carl wasn't exactly willing to play with her anymore. Daryl didn't want to talk about it, she got that, but she needed to try with Jada.

"Hey," she said with a sigh sitting down next to her.

"Hey." She didn't look up.

"How're you doing?" Renee watched her closely, she didn't seem to have much of an expression. Just kept tearing her grass.

"I'm okay."

"You sure?" She asked. Jada maded a little mhm noise and nodded. Not looking up. Renee didn't think she could be...maybe she was too young for it to really hit her, kids could be weird about stuff like this. Maybe she'd just seen it coming like the rest of them.

"Did Sophia go to heaven?" Jada asked, "Mama used to say that all God's creature went to heaven when they died. As long as they were good."

"Yeah, sweetie, Sophia went to heaven." Renee wasn't so sure if she believed in heaven anymore, but she might as well pretend. Sometimes pretending was easier.

"But she was a walker." She tore more grass, "Walkers aren't good."

"They aren't bad either, sweetie. They aren't anything anymore." Renee curled a finger around a blade of grass, and slowly let it break, bit by bit, "Sophia went to heaven."

"I'll go to heaven too, right?" She asked, finally looking up, "If I turn into one of them?" There were tears in her eyes, and for the first time since the day Atlanta fell, she really looked scared. Renee pulled her in close, running her hands through her hair.

"You won't ever be one of them." Renee kissed her forehead, "I promise."

She didn't know if she could keep it.

* * *

><p>She had an arrow nocked. Just in case. Daryl already had his bow loaded, kneeled down in the hay as he tried to get a sight on Sophia. He growled in frustration, they knew where she was, but it was a bad shot - the walkers tended to straggle around the edges.<p>

"We need to get them in the middle," Daryl sighed, straightening back up. She glanced around, the hayloft didn't have a lot of stuff in it, except for hay. She'd work with what she was given. Setting her bow down, she picked up a nearby bale, and chucked it over the edge. The walkers were slow, but they were curious. One by one they started to wander into the middle.

"Good?" She asked, and he nodded, as Sophia staggered into range. His jaw was tight as he raised his bow, found his shot, and pulled the trigger.

Sophia crumpled, "Go!" He yelled, and the doors started to bang and rattle as the others yelled from outside. The other eleven bodies wandered to the door, Sophia stayed where she was, a bright orange feather in her eye socket.

She was ready to draw as she heard the backdoor open somewhere below her. Glenn was in. He darted into view, a knife on his belt and a pistol holstered - Hershel had fought them on that one, but Maggie had insisted - next to it. The weapons were there, just in case, but his hands weren't going to be free.

The walkers gurgled and moaned, shoving hungrily against the door. There wasn't quite enough room for all of them. Daryl was reloading his crossbow when one of the stragglers got bored. Glenn had his eyes on Sophia's body, and it had his eyes on him with a big fat grin on its face. She let loose, it fell. Daryl's eyes met hers, they both knew what that was going to mean.

One walker then another got bored with the door, Glenn hadn't noticed. What the hell was taking him so long?

"Glenn get out of there!" She yelled, "Glenn!" Glenn glanced up and cursed, staggering up with the body in his arms. The group must have heard her too, because the banging on the door increased, but it was too late. The walkers had already noticed a much easier to reach meal.

She let another arrow go, Daryl pulled the trigger, "Glenn, go!" She yelled, but a few of the walkers were coming in from the edges - he didn't have anywhere to go. Daryl reloaded, she drew her bow, Glenn put his knife through a walkers skull - two arrows flew. The yells of the group echoed through the barn, stirring the walkers up as they lunged towards Glenn.

Her shots were starting to fly wide, the walkers were moving too much, she wasn't that good of shot yet. Daryl hit his mark every time, but it took him twice as long to reload. They'd already dropped seven of them, but there were still four more geeks playing tag with Glenn. He dodged and ran, trying to get for the door, or get for a head.

He yelled, ramming his blade through one's eyes, while another rammed it's hands into his shoulders. Glenn fell, the walker coming down on top of him. Renee couldn't help it, she screamed. Daryl's bolt dug into it's head as the doors opened and Rick burst through, two gunshots and the last walkers were dead. Really dead.

"Glenn!" Glenn!" Maggie yelled, sprinting in from the light, and throwing the walker's body off of him, pulling him into her arms. He seemed okay.

Hershel just looked lost. Staring at the bodies on the floor. They'd fucked it up this time. Taking a deep breath she made her way down the ladder.

"Mom!" Beth sobbed, "Mom!" She shoved her way in past the others kneeling by the head of a woman in tattered, bloodied clothes. Daryl hopped down beside her. Everyone was there, except for Carol and the kids. Glenn and Maggie were watching Beth, Maggie with tears in her eyes, as the girl sobbed and shook.

It happened so fast they hardly had time to react, Beth's mother grabbed for her, and the group jumped to pull Beth back. "No!" Maggie screamed as dead hands clawed for her sister. She pulled Glenn's knife from the walker it had been left in, and lunged forward. The blade tore through the walker's chest first before shaky hands drove it into her head.

Hershel had fallen to his knees, Maggie and Beth were wrapped around each other. This was a private moment, the Greene's and all their friends and family - wearing blood and tacked on smiles. Daryl scooped Sophia into his arms. This was a private moment...they were just outsiders.

"C'mon," Daryl whispered to her, nodding towards the door. Sophia's limbs swayed with each step he took, she followed, and one by one the group left the Greene's to mourn.

**Well yet another chapter. I'm still home sick, so I've been putting them out at a mildly ridiculous rate as I completely ignore all my other responsibilities (I have a 7 page paper due on friday, but you know what? That's just whatever.), anyways I should probably work on that...or maybe study for that test I missed. I don't know. **

**Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed, let me know what you though! I hope to hear from you. **

**See ya soon! **


	21. Cake

**So close to winter break...really I just want to graduate. Gonna be so nice to have a stress free summer, which is still over six months away. I should be studying, cause aparently that test I thought I missed is actually tomorrow and I feel well enough to go to school - but I think I've developed a problem. I can't stop writing and I blame NaNoWriMo I figured out how to write consistently and now it's taken over my life… **

**I've added a few songs to the playlist, mostly The Gospel Whiskey Runners and a little more of LAYLA and Gregory Alan Isakov. Link's on my page. **

**Anyways thanks to everyone who has followed or favorited this story. Special thanks to Inkandtrees, redangel2463, las131984, sillygabby, my-forgotten-rose, Kyokkou, and wickedclownsmile for the reviews! **

**Chapter 21 - Cake**

She kept telling herself she was going to make that run to find clothing - something nice and warm, but weeks later it still hadn't happened. What she had packed for Atlanta four months ago had consisted of mostly shorts, t-shirts, and tank tops. She had exactly one pair of blue jeans, and one oversized, maroon, knit sweater she used to use for pajamas, and that was the extent of her winter wardrobe.

It wasn't even procrastination, she'd never liked to put things off before, it was just everything kept piling up. Sophia got lost, Daryl kept getting hurt, Shane, and now this mess...she hadn't spoken to any of the Greene's since the barn that afternoon.

The air had that crispness to it, the one she used to always relish, it was how she knew fall was coming. She admitted she fell into the white girl stereotype real hard once the leaves started changing colors. Big comfy sweaters and patterned leggings, and damn did she love her pumpkin spice lattes. She still had the big comfy sweater, but pumpkin spice lattes were scarce. Suppressing a shiver she folded her hands into her sleeves and added another flower to her pile.

Sophia's funeral would be tomorrow. Jada had wanted to bring her flowers. So they'd hiked up to one of the back fields, sat down in the damp, yellow switchgrass, and picked dying wildflowers in the hazy evening light. The petals were wilted and wrinkled, and the stems were dry and yellowing - but she figured the sentiment was the same.

Dinner would be soon. She wasn't feeling all that hungry, but Jada needed to eat. Renee glanced at her little girl, she was shivering. Bracing herself for the chill she tugged her sweater over her head, leaving her in nothing but a tanktop and jeans, and pulled it down over Jada. It wasn't even dark yet and it was already this cold...their sleeping bags weren't the thickest, and Jada didn't have any warm clothes. It would be weird asking to sleep in the house tonight, but Dale would be willing to take her in.

Everyone else had been a bit more prepared for the world to end. They'd been home when the news reports started, could pack things. She and Jada were just kinda winging it.

"C'mon, grab your flowers. Let's head back." She offered Jada the hand that wasn't full of flowers, and Jada did the same, letting Renee pull her to her feet. The sweater was far too big on her, hanging past her knees.

"What's for dinner?" Jada asked.

"Take a guess," Renee said, as they walked through the tall grass back to the little dirt road.

"Is it eggs?"

Renee nodded, "Yup."

"I don't think I like eggs anymore…" Jada's nose wrinkled. They'd had them at least once a day for a month now.

"Yeah, me neither."

The clouds had slowly creeped in on the horizon a few hours ago, and now the sky was an odd grey-purple, reflecting the light of a sun she couldn't see. It looked like it could rain, she really hoped it didn't - it was already cold enough.

It had been a horribly hot summer, and now the winter was promising to be just as extreme (or as extreme as it got in Georgia). She did her best to hold back a heavy sigh, didn't need to be worrying Jada...what if Hershel decided to kick them out? It was Glenn or the walkers, she'd choose Glenn again in a heartbeat, but that didn't mean she wasn't worried about the thought of the road.

A month of fresh food, farm fields, and mostly uninfested woods had left her with a wonderful sense of calm. For a while she'd forgotten what it was like out there - and she really didn't want to have to remember.

When she was fourteen she'd gone to this intensive wilderness camp, her brother had been the one who wanted to do it, but their parents were going on an anniversary cruise, so she got sent along too. She'd hated every miserable moment of that damn camp, from shitting in a ditch to gutting fish - she'd gotten out of that by bribing her brother with the candy bars she'd smuggled in.

She'd gone home two weeks later and vowed she would never, ever do something like that again. Seven years later, intensive wilderness camp sounded just fine, it was an RV road trip that worried her - working toilet or not. The wilderness didn't have dead people in it, or at least not as many, and there was a bit more room out there too. The RV was cramped as hell.

It was already getting dark, and it was eerily quiet - it was too cold for crickets to sing, she'd gotten used to having them as a near constant background every night. The house came into view around the bend, and the warm flickering light of the group's campfire could be seen. Her brow furrowed, that wasn't the only fire she could see. Down the hill another burned low, under the chimney of a long gone house.

It wasn't nearly big enough for it to be for the walkers' pyre. She squinted her eyes, but in the dusky light she could hardly see the driveway ten feet ahead, forget whatever was a good three hundred yards off. The group would have noticed too, if it was a problem it would have been taken care of. Maybe someone just passing by?

* * *

><p>The group was already settled around the fire when she and Jada got there, picking over eggs, as usual. Something was missing, she picked up on the much, but she couldn't figure it out at first. Jada sat on the ground and she was handed a plate, eyes kept flicking up at Renee...she didn't get it. Whatever, it didn't matter.<p>

"Hey, Jada sweetie, why don't you give me your flowers? I'll go put them in the RV." Jada nodded, offering up the droopy bouquet as she dutifully chewed her eggs. Renee didn't feel like eating quite yet, and quickly cooling eggs just didn't sound appetizing. So she took her time pruning back the stems on flowers long past saving, and haphazardly placing them in a mason jar full of water.

She glanced out the window at the others, something was still missing. She knew Carol had gone to bed early, but...

"Where's Daryl?" She asked, heading back outside, "Did he already go up into th- where the hell's his tent?"

The others looked at each other awkwardly, Rick was the one to speak up, "He uh, he moved it." He didn't need to say where, Renee knew exactly where Daryl had gone. Muttering curses at him, she gave up on dinner completely and stalked off down the road. She'd told herself she'd give him his space, if he wanted to work things out on his own that was one thing, but this was ridiculous.

She'd forgotten to get her sweater back from Jada, and she could feel the cold air all too clearly through the thin tank top she had on. It wasn't a long walk, and if she was lucky she'd have him back down at camp in a few minutes. They didn't even have to move his things tonight, he could stay with them in the RV, or in her tent for all she cared - they weren't going to be using it tonight anyways.

"What the hell are you doing?" She called as he came into sight. He didn't respond, and she rolled her eyes. He was sitting by the fire, not looking at her even though she knew damn well he knew she was coming. His hair had been getting longer, little cow licks curling up in front of his ears. Slowly it was changing color too, in the height of summer it had almost been blonde, now it was more of a sandy brown. The firelight looked nice on him, made his cheekbones seem even sharper than they were, his eyes - No! She was mad at him! "I asked you what you were doing?" She snapped, standing over the fire.

"I said eating," he growled back, ripping off another chunk of what looked like squirrel.

"Well obviously you didn't say it loud enough." She crossed her arms, and watched him, waiting for a response. She didn't think she'd get one, and she was right. Doing her best to take a breath and relax, she softened her voice, "Daryl, come back to camp."

"I'm fine." He still wouldn't look up at her.

"I didn't ask if you were fine, I asked you to come back." He decided not to respond again. She shook her head, doing her best not to shiver as she sat down by the fire. Finally he looked at her, a guarded look in his pale blue eyes. Why the hell was he being so cagey all of a sudden? He'd always been moody, but now he was being downright unreasonable. This was her. He didn't have to push her away, he had to have known that by now. "Daryl, if you want to talk about today -"

"Nothing to talk about." His gaze drifted back to the fire, and she bit back a frustrated sigh.

"Really? So that's why you hid yourself away up here? Cause you've got absolutely nothing to talk about?" She was doing her best to be patient, but her best wasn't really working today.

"Don't matter.'"

"Yes it does!" She was starting to get exasperated, "Daryl, please. Please come back."

"Why the hell you getting so pushy all the sudden," he muttered.

He was like a child. A giant, thirty year old child. Jada was easier to deal with than him. "Daryl I'm being pushy because you're my -" Her what? What the hell were they? They'd kind of avoided talking about it the past few weeks, just enjoyed each others company, "Because I care about you okay? I don't want you sitting up here alone, in the cold, stewing in your own problems."

"I'm fine on my own."

"But you don't have to be! I'm supposed to help you, that's what I'm here for!" He wouldn't respond. It was like trying to talk to a stone wall, "You know what?" She stood, "Fuck this."

He wanted to act like a kid, he could act like a kid. She could be childish too.

* * *

><p>"Thank you so much for watching her," Renee said to Dale, as she ducked into her tent and grabbed Jada's sleeping bag, Franklin, and the book they'd been reading - it was Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone, she'd read it plenty of times before, Dale could do the honors tonight. He struggled as she handed the awkward load over to him, the sleeping bag hadn't been rolled.<p>

"You still haven't told me what you're doing," Dale said, mildly exasperated. Renee had come back down from Daryl's tent looking just as pissed as they'd expected her to. Still she'd been almost as cagey with Dale as Daryl had been with her as she helped him get Jada's stuff.

She ducked back in the tent and grabbed her own sleeping bag, "Making a point."

The walk back up to Daryl's camp went quickly, and with the sleeping bag wrapped around her shoulders it wasn't nearly so cold. He was standing when she got back, hanging the extra squirrels he'd caught off the old chimney. She hadn't noticed the leather vest when she'd been up here before, angel wings arced down his back. She shook her head - did he own anything with sleeves?

He seemed surprised when he saw her. She didn't acknowledge that, didn't acknowledge him. Just threw her sleeping bag down about twenty feet from his tent, and laid down. Her sleeping bag wasn't all that thick, and neither was her shirt, but he was going to make stupid decisions she was going to make stupid decisions right along with him. Wrapping her arms around herself, she kept her back to the fire, and waited.

"Ain't gonna work, Red." She heard him say, "Ain't about you." She didn't respond, just wiggled farther down into her bag so she could forget the chilly air on her neck. See how he liked being ignored. She heard him sigh, and his footsteps faded as his tent zipped up behind him. She shouldn't have expected much more. No way in hell she was leaving now though.

She was shivering. The only noise was the crackle of a dying fire too far off to do her any good. This had probably been a bad idea. It was like when she was little and went on hunger strikes because her parents wouldn't let her do this or that, eventually she was going to be hungry, but that would mean admitting defeat.

She had an easier time being hungry than cold, but she was going to stick with this one. She couldn't let him sit up here on his own. What if something happened? What if walkers came? She knew he was more than capable of taking care of himself, but his lung hadn't fully healed yet - he was still supposed to be on that ventilator when he slept. She shook her head, let him be stubborn, she could be stubborn right back.

The tent unzipped. Quiet footsteps were coming towards her. She didn't look up, but she could feel his eyes on her. He took a deep breath, and cool air kissed her skin as he worked the zipper free on her sleeping bag. He was muttering something to himself under his breath, she couldn't make out what. His hands felt warm on her bare shoulders as slid one arm under her back, and another under the crook of her knees.

She was tempted to just pretend she'd fallen asleep. Let him carry her to his tent, where she knew he had several thick blankets, and a cot that was a hell of a lot more comfortable than the ground. She wasn't going to do that though.

He'd barely gotten her an inch off the ground when her eyes snapped open, and she smacked his arm. He dropped her, but he didn't stand back up, he stayed kneeled next to her. She sat up so she could meet his eyes before she glared at him, "As long as you're staying here, I'm staying _here._"

He looked down, then back up at her, he was close enough to kiss. She wasn't going to do that right now, but the thought crossed her mind, "You can't stay out here all night, Sunshine."

"Watch me." She growled, and slid back into the bag, zipping it up - or trying to, it caught a few times as she yanked on it, before finally it went all the way up. Rolling over on the bumpy ground, she set herself to ignoring him until he either agreed to go back to camp, or went back to his tent alone.

His footsteps faded away.

Fifteen minutes later the first raindrop fell. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

><p>It had started raining. Daryl rolled over in his cot again, he couldn't get comfortable. The rain wasn't all that heavy yet, but the occasional drop had quickly grown into a steady fall. That girl was going to get herself sick, wouldn't have been a problem if they weren't liable to get themselves kicked off the farm. She didn't need to be hacking a lung out on the road though.<p>

He sat up quickly, running a hand through his hair. He wasn't going to go back to camp. Not now. He didn't need to deal with Dale's speeches on morality, or Rick and Lori's marriage problems, or that kid of their's sulking around, or that god damned look on Carol's face when she thought about the little girl he hadn't found. He'd have to deal with it enough when they were back on the road again, might as well get some damn peace while he could.

A gust of wind strained against the tent, and the rain started coming down harder. He was going to have to go get her. Girl was gonna die of pneumonia if she didn't put her head on straight.

The fire had gone out, and between the rain and the clouds over the moon, he couldn't see a damn thing. He knew where she was though. Not even bothering to unzip the bag, he grabbed her under the arms, pulled her out, and lifted her off her feet.

"Daryl!" She yelled, struggling to get down. He wouldn't let go. If she wanted to be stubborn she could do it on a different night. She was already soaked through, sleeping bag wasn't all that waterproof. "Daryl put me down!"

"You're gonna get sick," he said, as he set her down in the tent, and zipped it up. It was too dark to actually see, she was just a darker spot on rain streaked canvas. She didn't say anything, but he could feel her glaring at him. He stepped closer, a hand going up to her arm, "You're fucking freezing, Red." He shook his head, and crouched down next to his bag, feeling around for a clean shirt. "Put that on, can't stay in those wet clothes."

"No."

"Renee, put on the damn shirt," he growled, holding it out to her. She took it. Her clothes peeled away from her skin, and dropped to the floor with a wet thud. Cloth rustled, and he reached out to touch her again. Her skin was still cold and clammy, but the dry shirt felt warm against her. It was one of his flannels, he was pretty sure, sleeveless. Would've gone down to mid thigh on her, he didn't really have any pants for her...he didn't think she'd want his boxers, been meaning to throw them in with the laundry yesterday, but things got busy. He only had one pair left for tomorrow, and he'd been kind of hoping to have underwear.

"C'mon," He steered her towards the cot. She wasn't talking to him still, but he was pretty sure she'd given up on her idea of sleeping in the great outdoors in forty degree weather. It hadn't gotten this cold this early in years, must've been some kind of bad front going on - probably would pass in a few days, hard to tell without the news. "You need to lay down."

She didn't protest, just slid in between the blankets. He didn't think she was in a mood for him to be sleeping with her. He had a leather coat in the bottom of his bag, he could pull that out use it as a blanket.

She must have noticed how he was standing awkwardly about. "You can lay down you know, it's your bed."

He didn't have to think hard about that choice. There wasn't a lot of room, and she was still hellishly cold, but she'd already warmed up a good deal. Wrapping an arm around her waist, her bare legs intertwined with his, he let his chin rest on her head and closed his eyes.

* * *

><p>Like every single childhood hunger strike, she'd given up, and eaten the cake. She ate it begrudgingly, and glared the whole time, but she ate anyways. The rain had stopped, and now the pre-dawn light casted drop shaped shadows all over the tent. She didn't want to get up, Daryl was warm against her, and the proximity of his lips to her neck was making her breath come a little shorter.<p>

At some point in the night, she must have wriggled up higher onto the pillow, his head had been over hers when she fell asleep. Now his breath tickled her throat, and he groaned when she shifted, dragging his nose down to the base of her neck as he stretched, and pulled her tighter to his chest.

She needed to leave. People would be getting up soon, she'd need to get Jada awake, and dressed, and fed. Reluctantly pulling herself from his arms she stood, he grumbled, watching her crawl over him and out of bed.

"It's early." He rolled over to face her as she looked at her discarded clothes.

"Yup." She'd eaten the cake, but she was damn pissed about it. "You coming back to camp?"

"No," the sleepy amiability in his voice hardened a bit. Yeah she wasn't the only one who was still a bit miffed. The morning air was cold on her bare legs and arms, though she had to admit Daryl's shirt was comfortable. Pretty warm to for what it covered. She crouched down, her own clothes weren't just wet still - they were absolutely freezing. She'd honestly be better off running back to her tent in Daryl's shirt, it was long enough not to show anything, and no one would be awake yet.

Was she actually going to do that? She poked at her dripping jeans, and decided that yes, yes she was. With a sigh she pulled on her damp boots, and stood back up.

Daryl's brow furrowed, "You goin' out like that? It's cold."

"My clothes are still wet. They're colder." She said, lacing her shoes up. "Just gonna run down to my tent, I doubt anyone's up yet."

"Suit yourself," he shook his head. She was pretty sure he was trying not to smile at her. Yeah she knew she was being dumb again. Still there wasn't a damn thing that would make her put on those sopping jeans.

It was even colder outside where the air was damp and the storm had left lingering breezes. The sky was a dull morning grey, hints of gold peering over the tree tops as the sun began to rise. The wind tossed at her hair, red locks flicking this way and that. She was really going to have to run wasn't she?

With a sigh, she took off down the drive. The faster she got there, the faster she could put on pants - well shorts, but it was better than nothing. Maybe she'd ask Dale to borrow a blanket, and just not get up all day. Her sleeping bag had been left outside Daryl's tent, she'd need to hang it to dry later if she wanted to sleep tonight.

She ran into camp, thinking it would be empty. And she was almost right, almost. She froze meeting Glenn's eyes, she felt like a deer in the headlights as they stared at each other. His gaze flicking between Daryl's shirt and her obvious lack of pants. Her eyes had gone wide, brows raised as she tried to figure out how to react. He had a similar expression, lips twitching as he desperately tried not to laugh.

"You have a good night?" He barely managed to get the words out as he shoved down giggles. Lips turning into an over exaggerated frown as he fought off a smile.

She blinked rapidly, mouth gaping open as she tried to find words. "It was fine."

The silence that followed was too much for him. He started absolutely howling with laughter, "Oh my god!"

"Shhhh!" She hushed him, afraid someone else would wake up, "Please, just be quiet." She begged.

"You guys did it didn't you?" He grinned.

"No! No we didn't I just," He raised a brow, "We just - you know what? Fuck you!" She glared, though she was starting to laugh too as she stormed back towards her tent. She needed some real clothes.

* * *

><p>The service had been simple. Hershel had come out in his suit and read from his bible over three graves. Everyone else gathered around in tattered clothes, and watched the spots where they'd lain three bodies only hours earlier. Sophia was on the far left, Hershel's wife and stepson in the middle and on the right. Otis' marker was off to Sophia's left. Apparently he'd been the one to bring her into the barn, more likely than not. If only he'd lived long enough he might've been able to tell them that, wouldn't have spent so much time and heart break on false hope. Daryl came down for the service, jaw clenched tight as he watched Sophia's grave.<p>

Jada had laid wilted wildflowers on the graves - they looked even sadder than they had the night before - but Hershel had looked appreciative. She didn't think he was going to let them stay, but he still was fond of Jada, she hadn't done anything wrong.

She'd thought they were going to have to leave tomorrow, but the way things were right now - Hershel had disappeared, Beth was catatonic...they'd stick around while they could, help out, they owed the Greenes that much. Rick and Glenn had been gone awhile, she was doing her best to keep Maggie company, but the other girl was listless. Her sister was sick, boyfriend and father missing, she'd had to bury her long dead loved ones today.

She didn't seem like she wanted to be cheered up. So they just shared coffee like they had that first night, and waited quietly for something to happen.

She held back a sigh, it had been another long day. Her gaze trailed to the window, Lori was storming up the drive from the old chimney, her stomach twisted...what had Daryl done now?

"Are you going to be okay on your own for a bit?" She asked, standing, "I think I should go talk to Lori."

"Yeah, I'll be okay." Maggie nodded, gripping her coffee mug.

"I'll be back." She said, and stepped out onto the porch. Lori was already at her car, a little tan sedan Glenn had found on a run a few weeks back, throwing in her bag. A pistol was stuffed into the back of her waistband - they needed to find everyone holsters before bullets started going into people's butts. It was just a matter of time.

"Hey," Renee came up behind her, "What's up?"

"Daryl won't go look for Rick, so I'm going have to do things myself." Lori said huffily, pulling the keys out of her pocket.

"Hey, hey, hey," Renee caught her shoulder before she could sit in the driver's seat. "Let me go. You're pregnant, and frankly don't know how to track."

Lori took a breath, calming herself down, "You're right, you're right," she opened her mouth as if about to say something, closed it, and sighed, "I'm just worried about Rick...and Carl's been a mess ever since Shane left... we did the right thing didn't we?"

Renee nodded slowly, "I think so." Lori leaned back against the car, "Let me go grab my bow. They're just in town, I bet Hershel's just...being Hershel."

Lori nodded, "Thank you... do you need me to keep an eye on Jada?"

Renee shook her head, "She's taking a nap in the RV, I think Dale's gotta handle on her." She smiled, "Go lay down or something."

Lori laughed, "I don't think I could lay down now if I tried."

"Well...do laundry or feed chickens - I don't know," she laughed, "Don't worry. I'll be back as soon as I can." With that she ran to her tent to grab her bow and knife, the quicker they got Hershel back the better. It might mean they'd have to leave sooner, but Beth was a nervous wreck...and Maggie wasn't doing much better.

* * *

><p>The town was only a ten minute drive away. There were some CDs, she didn't know who'd owned this car, but they really loved their Marvin Gaye. The sun would be going down soon, hopefully this would be a "hey let's go home" and leave kinda trip, but if she knew her luck with that it wouldn't be. Daryl hadn't been all that compliant when she tried that one last night.<p>

Parking the sedan, she grabbed her bow, shouldered her quiver and started walking. They were supposed to be at a bar somewhere? She could see the truck they'd taken, but there were a few more cars...ones that didn't look abandoned.

She blinked...there were people. She hadn't seen anyone other than the Greene's or her group since...practically since the world ended if she didn't count Jenner. Three men were coming out of a store, holding boxes full of something. Five more were standing under a shop awning a little ways away. They were looking at her, must've seen her drive up.

They sure had a lot of guns. Big ones. Reasonable...but there was something in the way they looked at her. One of them smiled, biting his lip. He had hair almost as red as hers, and a thick smattering of freckles. He turned, walking up to her all charm and swagger, she eyed the others. They were of varying ages, some looked younger than her, one had to be in his forties - tall with a square jaw and brown hair, wearing a quilted black vest. He looked cold, not temperature wise either.

The redhead was getting closer than she would have liked. Where the hell were Rick and Glenn? He stopped a few feet away, her gut told her to go for her bow, but she was pretty sure a semi-automatic would rip through her long before she could nock an arrow.

His eyes ran her up and down, "Well ain't you pretty."

**Oh no cliffhanger hahaha. I'll probably going back to school tomorrow...but I only have two more days till break...so this is going to be the easiest week for me. It's gonna be great. Well actually it's going to be stressful, maybe I'll see if I can get an extension on my Lit essay. Might be a few days before I update again depending on if I try to get to my shit together or not. So I may just leave you on that note for a day or two. Sorry about that. **

**Anyways, I hope y'all enjoyed! Let me know what you thought! I hope to hear back from you guys :)**

**See ya soon!**


	22. Pretty

**So...I like straight up lied about not posting a new chapter today...because I actually could have posted this yesterday around 10 PM...like I still studied for my test and everything - I just don't know how this chapter happened I wrote it in like three and a half hours. By all means it shouldn't exist, but here it is. **

**I've added two more songs to the playlist, one by Fleet Foxes, one by Iron and Wine. Link is on my page. **

**Thanks to everyone who has followed and favorited! Special thanks to las13984, Crybby, Inkandtrees, Starcrier, and redangel2463 for the reviews! **

**Chapter 22 - Pretty **

"What's a girl like you doin all alone out here?" He cocked his head to the side, mouth twisting up into a snarl like smile. "Ain't safe."

Renee didn't say anything. Just watched him, she couldn't help but remember what Daryl had told her all those weeks ago. _There are worse monsters out there than dead people._ Where the hell were Rick and Glenn? If they hadn't already gotten the hell out of town...her thoughts trailed back the old folks in Atlanta - these guys had a lot of guns. The other men were prowling up and down the streets, picking their teeth in the bed of their trucks, she looked back at the redhead - watching her with hungry eyes.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" He took another step, "You mute or something?"

"I can talk just fine," she said tersely, not taking her eyes off him. Another step.

"Then what'cha here for, darling?" He asked. He could reach out and touch her now.

She'd give anything to see Daryl right now, but she didn't think she was going to get that lucky, not again. She glanced at a man standing not too far away, semi-automatic rifle over his shoulder. Actually she hoped Daryl stayed away. Far, far away. If he tried to pull something like he did with Shane...he'd die before he got to her. He couldn't be that reckless, he had a better head on his shoulders than that. Her mouth twitched. It didn't matter - he didn't even know where she was.

"I'm looking for my friends." Maybe if he knew she wasn't alone…

His eyebrows raised, and that predatory smile pulled at his lips, "Hey, guys!" He yelled back to the men he'd been standing with, the man in the black vest met his eyes, "Says she's got friends!" He made it sound as if they were going to be invited to a frat party...she wasn't so sure. Maybe she'd made a mistake. If Glenn, Rick, and Hershel were still around…

Every nerve was on edge as she desperately tried to think of a way out of this. She couldn't figure it out though - even if she tried to run, even if he didn't grab her, there'd be a bullet in her back faster than she could get to cover. She hadn't gotten very far into the town's little mainstreet, if she could get back into the woods.

Run. Everything told her to run, but she just couldn't.

"So pretty girl, you gotta name?" She didn't respond, "Alright, no names...why don't you an' me go look for your friends now, huh? Don't think I see 'em out here."

She didn't move to go with him. He took another step...close enough to kiss. She took a step back.

"Ah, ah, ah - don't have a need for that now, pretty girl." His hand came forward just a bit, as if ready to grab her. Two gun shots rang out one after another - they'd come from a building...a bar. Oh shit. There was nothing she could do for her friends, but the redhead's eyes were on the man going to check out the noise. She ran.

She heard another shot then another, and then, "Where you think you're going, pretty girl?"

She ran harder, clearing the pavement and leaping down the embankment into the woods. She twisted about as she ran, risking a look behind her - he was almost to the treeline. The adrenaline was pumping, she didn't think about where she was putting her feet, just flew around thin trees, and jumped the logs and stones that cropped up in her way.

The redhead was taller than her, taller than Daryl, he had to be over six foot. His legs were a lot longer than hers. It was almost dark, the woods were dusky and grey - she couldn't hear a damn thing other than her breath, and the crash of leaves under his feet. He was gaining, and gaining fast - she just wouldn't be able to outrun him much longer.

Her eyes tore through the shadowy forest. There had to be something, something she could do - she could always stop and fight...he had nearly a foot and over a hundred pounds on her. What'd she think she was going to do? He was too close to get an arrow in him. Could she knock him out? Shane hadn't seen her coming, she'd been up higher than him. She didn't have that advantage now.

Off to her right the trees fell away, and she heard something. The rush of water. The trail narrowed as it followed the lip of a gorge, a steep drop into the creek - a rocky waterfall peacefully rushed down into a pool at the bottom.

She could hear his breath now too. She was out of options.

She hardly broke stride as she veered off trail, dropped to a crouch, and slid. A hand grabbed her outstretched arm, and she yelped as her joints strained against the abrupt stop.

"You're gonna hurt yourself like that pretty girl." He grunted, panting as he hauled her back up towards him. "Wouldn't wanna bust up that face, would we?"

His hand went to cradle her cheek as he turned her to face him, and she did what she could. She bit him. Blood filled her mouth, and he yelled, shoving her back. The ground fell away, and the world started to spin. Something in her ankle popped as she tumbled all the way down into the freezing water below.

Her lungs struggled at the shock of the cold. Her ankle cried out as she pushed herself up, bit by bit. She heard the redhead yell something, she couldn't make out the words - her head was still spinning. She coughed, where was her bow? Her quiver was empty, the arrows all scattered. She needed her bow.

He yelled again.

She'd have to leave it. Her ankle screamed as she struggled through the water, slipping and stumbling on the rocks below her feet. Tears sprung to her eyes, as she choked on a frightened sob and kept splashing through the creek. She wouldn't be able to get out here. She was trapped. If he climbed down after her she had nowhere to go.

She wanted to see Jada again. She wanted to see Daryl.

Something moaned - it wasn't her. Her chest heaved as the walker came around the bend, drawn by the redhead's yells. It grinned at her, dead hands reaching to pull her to its jaws. Her knife, she still had her knife. It sang as she drew. The walker let out a raspy breath, her ankle wasn't steady enough to try to go to it. She held her blade at ready, and waited for it to come to her.

Closer. Closer. It smelled of death and muddy water. It tripped, smiling into her neck as she drove her knife through it's temple.

It dropped. She moved on.

* * *

><p>It was dark - the group would have finished dinner by now. He'd half expected her to be back up here, trying to pull another stunt like last night - or at least come get her clothes and her sleeping bag. Her soaked pants were still lying in a heap on his floor.<p>

He bit his lip, watching tonight's squirrell crackle over the fire. Honestly he wouldn't mind if she came back, she didn't have to stay, just wanted to see her. He missed her. Which was a weird thought - he didn't miss Merle all that much, he was used to him being gone for months at time, years. For all the time he'd known Renee he'd hardly been away from her. It was kind of odd eating dinner without her.

Except for when they'd woken up and the funeral, he'd hardly even seen her. Hell, he'd talked to Lori more than Renee today.

It was cold out, he didn't get why she'd have left her pants this long. She only had the one pair, it was going to be hell running around in shorts. He took the squirrel off the spit and took a half hearted bite. Maybe he could go down there...just for a bit, check in on her. Maybe she'd gotten held up taking care of Beth or something.

He wolfed down half the squirrel, banked the fire, and started walking.

He couldn't help but think about last night. They'd never spent a whole night together, she'd taken naps while he was still on the ventilator, but he hadn't been able to hold her then. She'd lay next to him, and trace over his tattoos - Norman on his chest, the devil on his arm, the little star on his hand.

He hadn't been able to see her in the dark, but when they woke up, he couldn't deny she looked damn good in his shirt - hair all messed up, eyes still half closed.

He frowned, headlights were racing down the road. Rick must've been back, he'd told Lori that Rick'd be fine. No reason he could think of for him to be driving like that though - not a good one at least. Was someone hurt? He tried to tell himself he didn't care all that much, but he picked up the pace anyways.

They were loading some kid out of the truck, yelling things back and forth. The whole group was there, Carol standing with the children a little ways off - he didn't recognize the kid, but he was screaming too. Where was Renee? He could see everyone except for Beth on the porch...was Renee up there with her?

Lori had her arms wrapped around Rick, Glenn and T-Dog were carrying the kid inside as Hershel followed, looking haggard.

He looked over at the Grimes', "Renee inside?"

Lori frowned, "Rick, was she not with you?"

Rick's brow furrowed, and he shook his head, "Why would she have been with me?" Daryl swallowed hard, watching them, jaw tensing.

"She went to go look for you, you didn't see her?"

"What the hell is happening?" Daryl growled.

"Ran into another group up in town, bunch of men...bullets were exchanged...walkers showed up and we had to make a run for it." Daryl felt like he couldn't breath. "We never saw Renee." Where the hell was she? His gaze turned on Lori.

"You sent her out there?" His voice tightened with his throat. There was another group out there...Renee could go up against a few walkers sure, but...he didn't know if she had what it took to take out a human. If it came down to it...he took a breath, trying to calm himself.

He didn't want to dig another grave. Not hers.

"I was going to go myself," Lori let out a shaky sigh, "I-I...she wouldn't let me leave, she offered to do it. I don't think I could have stopped her if I'd tried to."

"You sent her out there alone? With a bunch of fucking bandits wandering around?" His voice was rising.

"Daryl," Rick interjected, "Lori couldn't have known that." Daryl tried to think of something to say, but he couldn't. He shifted back on his feet and spun around, "Daryl!" Rick called, "Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna find her."

* * *

><p>The cliffs on either side were getting shallower, she'd be able to climb out soon. The redhead's yells had stopped, his calls for the pretty girl, for the red bitch. They hadn't faded out, they'd just stopped altogether. She didn't hear footsteps splashing through the creek behind her, didn't see anyone stalking her along the cliff edge.<p>

Nothing but her own breath, and sound of water as she slogged through the shallows. She was almost grateful for the icy creek, she could hardly feel her ankle anymore. Couldn't feel much of anything - she could see her breath in the moonlight. Pale and ghostly.

She just wanted to be home. She wanted to strip out of her soaking wet clothes, put on Daryl's shirt - it was still sitting in the corner of her tent - and curl up next to Jada. She wanted to go up to Daryl's tent, she didn't care if he ever came back to camp, she just wanted to see him.

She glanced at the cliff - it was more like an embankment now - she'd be able to climb out. Her ankle was still numb enough. She didn't think it was broken, probably just sprained. Maybe, if she was lucky, it would stay numb all the way back to the farm. She closed her eyes tight as she wrapped her hands around the first sapling…she didn't even know if Rick and the others had made it out alive.

With a grunt she pulled herself up, crawling on her knees, grabbing at roots and stumps, and whatever else her hands could find. She felt out of breath by the time she made it to the top. If she could just get to the road, she'd be fine. Just had to find the road.

The adrenaline was still coursing through her veins. Every noise made her jump, she couldn't even step on a twig without flinching. It felt like she was being watched. It was just nerves, she told herself, just nerves. She limped as she walked, and the cold made her lungs ache, but she figured it could be a lot worse. She might not have been breathing at all. She could have kept on walking even then…

A twig snapped.

She wasn't the one who'd stepped on it this time.

"You're a feisty bitch, you know that?" The redhead snarled, fixing her with a deathly glare. Blood ran black down his hand where she'd bit him. She could see every ragged breath she took, mist forcing it's way from her nose and mouth. He grinned, each breath rasping hot into the air.

He charged.

A hand wrapped around her neck. She was taken off her feet, vision going white as she was slammed backwards into a tree, his blood hot on her throat. For a moment all she could feel was the blinding ache in her head. Her back slid down the bark, and she screamed as another hand wrapped around her bad ankle and yanked. She kicked and pulled, but he was a lot stronger than her, every movement just made it that much harder to breath as she was pushed into the ground.

Rasping breaths, rasping breaths. Reaching hands pushing her into the ground, pushing into her shirt. She couldn't think, she couldn't see, she couldn't breath. He fell onto her, smiling into her neck.

Her hand went for her knife, and drove it into his temple.

He slumped, heavy against her chest. She couldn't breath, she couldn't breath, she couldn't breath. A strangled sob escaped her as she shoved him off, dragging herself across the ground away from the body. With a gasp she leaned her back up against the tree, his blood was still on her throat, trickling down her collarbone. She wiped at it desperately, she could still feel it tickling her skin, why wouldn't it come off?

Struggling to take breaths between rasping sobs she looked at him, her knife stuck out comically from his head - if only it was long enough to come out the other side it could have been one of those gag hats. See, he thought it was funny, he was still smiling.

Giggles rose through her chest, fighting for space in her throat with each cry. The tears were running hot down her face, and her ankle had begun to throb. She didn't want to feel it. She didn't want to, she didn't want to, she didn't want to. She looked at him again, he was young, no older than her.

Blood trickled down from her knife and spread in little rivulets, black and thick as it rolled into a white, white smile. His eyes were open, he kept looking at her.

_There are worse monsters out there than dead people. _

She pulled herself to her feet, with a tacked on smile, and staggered towards him. The knife came out with a wet sound, it was covered in blood and something worse. Bile rose in her throat. He didn't look so funny anymore. She fell to the ground, dragging the blade through the leaves. Streaks of silver and black. Silver and black. Why wouldn't it come clean?

With a frustrated cry she thrust it into the ground, and pushed herself up too fast. Her ankle gave way, and she came down hard on her hands. She took a few deep breaths, and tried again.

The road. She needed to find the road.

Leaving the knife and the boy behind, she limped off into the trees. She could still feel his blood on her neck.

* * *

><p>Daryl's bike roared as he tore out of the Greenes' driveway. He was going to find her. She wouldn't be just another dead girl in the woods. He'd check up and down the road from town first, Lori said she'd taken a car - if he found the car he could track her, see where she went. His fist clenched, and the bike sped off faster than it needed too - sputtering and spitting as it did.<p>

He watched the edges of the road in the path the bike's headlight cut through the dark, looking for the little tan sedan. He could still feel her in his arms that morning, he wasn't going to give that up, not yet. He didn't know what she was to him, but she was different. He knew that much, and he wanted to have enough time to figure out what different meant.

He wasn't ready to lose her yet.

Something caught his eye, just on the edge of his vision, he thought he'd seen a flash of movement - something pale in the treeline. He squeezed the brake as hard as he dared and swung back around.

It was her. She was limping heavily, her bow was gone, the sheath on her belt empty. Her hands were stained red, streaks of dried blood dark against her neck, though he couldn't see the wound it had come from. There was a look in her eyes as she stared into the light, some odd shine, that flashed with each ragged breath.

He was off of the bike in seconds, "Renee," he breathed, running up to her. He didn't have time to ask what had happened, her lip trembled and pulled itself into a frown as a sob forced its way out of her throat, and she fell into his arms.

"Daryl." His name came out in a broken whimper, the syllables hitching over labored breath.

"Hey," he kept his voice soft and slow, "Hey, I'm here." He pressed his lips to her hair, "I'm here, Sunshine." He needed to get her home. He didn't know what had happened to her. He figured it wouldn't do her any good to start asking questions now. So he just held her as she shook, "I'm here."

"I-I…" Air forced its way into her lungs, "I want to go home."

"C'mon." He gently lead her to the bike, helped her onto the back, and waited for her arms to wrap around his waist. Her face fell between his shoulderblades, and he took a deep breath. The bike roared, and they took off down the road.

* * *

><p>He helped her to her tent. Some of the others were still up, they watched with worried expressions as he lead a tear and blood stained Renee past them. He didn't meet their eyes, shoulders stiff as he unzipped her tent and followed her inside.<p>

It was late, Dale must have put Jada to bed in the RV, her tent was empty.

She'd stopped crying. He still didn't know if he should ask - but he knew it wasn't good. He kept running his eyes up and down her body, looking for bites, scratches. She didn't look like she had a single wound on her, just blood, he'd be damned if he knew where it came from. She wouldn't be this shook up over a walker.

He took in a sharp breath. Those men had found her hadn't they? He didn't know what the hell they'd done to her...but...why the hell hadn't he just gone himself? He watched her, she hadn't moved to lay down. Just stood there, staring dumbly down at a sleeping pallet and a few spare blankets - Dale must have left them - her sleeping bag was still up at his tent.

"Please don't leave tonight," her voice quavered.

He wrapped his arms around her from behind, letting his face fall to her hair. "I ain't going no where, Sunshine."

**Well, Renee's officially killed her first person. Maybe she and Rick can go bond over that...though honestly I think he's probably taking it a bit better than she is right now. **

**Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed. Let me know what you think! I hope to hear from you! **

**See ya soon! **


	23. Red Porcelain

**Alrighty chapter twenty two. We broke 100,000 words a few chapters ago, and last chapter broke 100 reviews (shout out to hikari-hime 01 for being the 100th reviewer). I'm really thankful for all the support I've been getting for this story, like all your reviews, and all of you who have been messaging back and forth with me. Like you guys are great, and you keep me writing. So thank you. **

**I've added more music to the playlist. Some Ben Howard and a Julia & Angus Stone song.**

**Thanks to all those who have followed and favorited. Special thanks to roariloveyoux, las131984, hikari-hime 01, Inkandtrees, my-forgotten-rose, RebornRose1992, Starcrier, XXBlackfireXX, redangel2463, sillygabby for the reviews! **

**Chapter 23 - Red Porcelain**

Drip. Drip. Drip.

A bird cried out, and she turned, bow in hand to draw on nothing. Empty woods and the sound of wings. She blinked, everything was red. When had the leaves started falling? A blanket of red leaves to warm the ground, dead branches reaching into a blank sky. A bird cried out, the sound of wings. Water. She was thirsty...she needed water.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Her bow fell to her side, and she started walking. She needed water. She could hear it, couldn't taste it, hear it. Drip. Drip. Drip. She was thirsty, she needed water. She wanted to drink it, lie in it, bathe in it, drown in it. Drip down. Drip. Drip. Drip.

She wasn't clean. She needed water.

A bird cried out, the sound of wings. Howl. She turned, bow in hand to draw on blue eyes. Why did it have to have blue eyes? Dead hands reaching for a blank girl. Red hair and such a pretty smile. She drove her knife through his temple. One, two, three. Red blood. Drip. Drip. Drip.

Why wouldn't it stop walking?

Reaching hands, a smile at her throat. The sound of wings, as teeth opened veins. They gurgled when she screamed.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

* * *

><p>Renee bolted upright, breaths coming hard and fast. A hand went to her throat. It was clean….It was clean. Jada, she needed to be getting Jada up. Breakfast would be soon, she untangled herself from blankets and arms, and stumbled across the tent. It was Jada's turn to take a bath today, had to get her in the bath before breakfast. No time for Jada to wake all the way up, might as well carry her up to the house.<p>

She blinked blearily, stumbling to Jada's sleeping bag. Blue eyes watched her. "Come on, sweetie," she half way dragged a protesting Jada out of her bag, "Time to get up."

"Renee!" The little girl groaned, stubbornly keeping her eyes closed. Renee ignored her objections, lifting Jada up so her head could rest on her shoulder, and was five or six steps out of the tent when she noticed something was off. "Renee, it's still dark out." Jada pouted, voice thick with sleep.

It was, wasn't it? How had that happened? She took a deep breath, trying to ignore her racing heart. She turned around, blue eyes were watching her with concern and a frown. Daryl had gotten out of bed, waiting for her in the door of their tent. He'd stayed ever since that night, all she'd had to do was ask.

"Renee, come back to bed." He looked like he was fighting back a yawn.

"Yeah…" She carried Jada back through the door, "Must have gotten confused."

"You're just tired," Daryl said, zipping the flap back up as she let Jada crawl back into her sleeping bag. The little girl was practically asleep before she laid down. "Been workin' yourself too hard."

"I'm fine, Daryl."

He snorted, "You've been running yourself into the ground ever since-" He broke off as her lip stiffened. She'd made it perfectly clear she wasn't going to talk about that night - he had his secrets, she could have hers. Her throat tightened. It was silly. It was all so silly. "Didn't sound like you were sleeping well…" He tried again, tone softer.

"I'm fine, Daryl." She insisted, brushing past him to lay back down in their cot. He'd moved his stuff in with hers a couple weeks ago. She kept asking him to sleep here anyways. It just became routine. He followed behind her, pulling the blankets up and wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Just get some sleep, Sunshine."

She tried, she really did. It'd just been hard recently, sleep didn't come easy - and when it did she had a fifty fifty shot of wishing she was awake. Daryl drifted off again pretty quickly, his breaths evened out, and his hold on her relaxed a bit. He'd been a bit stiff too. Always watching her with blue eyes and a frown. Her chest tightened every time she wondered if he knew.

Every time she told herself it wouldn't matter if he did. He wouldn't care, maybe he'd be relieved - he'd always seemed so worried that she couldn't take care of herself. Maybe he'd get off of her back about everything. She could take care of herself. It was silly, all of this was so fucking silly.

They'd gone back for her bow last week. It took him a while to convince her to do that, she hadn't wanted to go back there. She was worried he might notice something...some clue...she was worried he would know. It had been half submerged near the shallows - it took three days of intensive cleaning, and disassembling and reassembling for her to get it to draw right. Sand had gotten in the pulleys.

They only found a couple of her arrows, Daryl made her more - gave them to her as a gift a few days later - they actually had pretty good balance.

It explained where he'd been disappearing off to all the time since she'd brought him to the gorge. He'd laughed when he'd seen it, he'd fallen down the same cliff when he went after Sophia's doll. She hadn't even known where it was. Weird how shit like that happened.

One of the kids from that group was still up in the house. Randall, his name was Randall. Wrought iron fence through the knee, she winced every time she thought about it, must have hurt like a bitch.

She sighed, rolling and twisting so she could lean into Daryl's chest. She wriggled her nose, he had a bit of chest hair, it tickled - but he smelled nice. Like wood. Which would make sense, he'd been chopping wood for at least a few hours a day for the past week. It was going to get colder soon, there had been a freak temperature dip a while back, but the steady chill was slowly creeping back down the thermostat - she didn't mind too much, Daryl looked damn good in leather...that vest with the wings on it - they'd need that wood when winter came though.

She wondered how much longer Randall would be with them, maybe he'd make it all the way to Christmas. She smiled halfheartedly into Daryl's chest, no one could make up their minds about what to do with him. Dale was adamantly set against killing him, Glenn and Maggie wanted him dead, Daryl said he didn't care (she didn't think that was true). She cared...but she didn't know what she cared for - didn't know what to say if she was asked.

She didn't want more blood on her hands. Her lips drew into a frown. No more blood. Still...how much more blood would she see if they let him go? If it was her decision, would it be her fault? Jada's blood, Daryl's, Lori's, Maggie's, Glenn's -

If she was going to lay awake thinking all night, she might as well think about something pleasant. Like moving in. Once they got rid of Randall - or once it got so cold no one could stand it - Hershel said they'd get to stay in the house. There were two guest rooms - Rick, Lori, and the baby would be taking one of those - the other's fate hadn't been determined, she was kind of hoping she and Daryl would get it. Though she felt bad, Carol was going to be alone in the dining room. The guys were taking the living room - Maggie had complained to her more than once about how Glenn was refusing to stay in her room with her cause "her father would be in the house", she was retaliating by withholding sex.

She and Daryl so far had been quite sexless. She was kind of jealous of Maggie, she and Glenn had just kind of gone for it. She and Daryl would kiss and all, but that was about it, it was weird - having Jada in the tent right next to them...yeah she got where Glenn was coming from.

She let her fingers come up to trace over Daryl's collarbone, spin circles up his neck, run through his hair. He groaned in his sleep, leaning into her touch. She would like to, there just never seemed to be time, or space...They hadn't really talked about it yet.

Maybe when they moved in she'd bring it up. Carl had calmed back down over the past couple weeks, he was a little more unruly than he used to be, but he wasn't ignoring Jada. Maybe they and the Grimes' could start letting the kids have sleepovers, trade them between rooms every couple of nights - give the adults some privacy. She was pretty sure everyone thought they were fucking already anyways, Daryl had let her keep his shirt, she used it at as pajamas pretty regularly.

A bird chirped. Had it really been that long already? She stretched her neck up to look at the ceiling. Sure enough the faintest gray light was seeping through. It really was time to get Jada up now.

Her lips found Daryl's, and he sleepily kissed back, looking at her through half open eyes.

"How're you feeling?" He asked, and she rolled her eyes, kissing him again.

"I'm fine, Daryl." He never believed her.

He closed his eyes for a moment, taking in a deep breath, "You need to get up, yet?" He asked, stealing another kiss from her.

"Not yet," she said, and kissed back smiling into his lips. It was nice sometimes, just to pretend. He brought a hand down to her hip as their lips moved, she bit lightly, his mouth opened and he growled low in his throat as he rolled on top, left hand holding himself above her, right hand sliding up her back and gently pulling her closer. Her hands found his hair as she slowly sat up with him, his tongue pushing past hers. Her arms slowly wrapped themselves around his neck, as she softened their kisses, slow and sweet, "I should probably." She kissed him again, "Go," and again, "Get Jada in the tub."

"You promise not to work too hard today?" He asked, "People are getting worried Renee."

"You mean you're getting worried?" She raised a brow, staring at him with bored annoyance. He'd been pressing this for a week now.

"No I mean the others. Carol says you haven't shown up to get lunch more than three or four times in the last two week." He said, breaking off the kisses to look her in the eye.

"I've been busy."

"You need to eat," He insisted.

"I'm fine, Daryl." She grumbled, pushing herself back and out of bed. She needed to put on some clothes, find something fresh for Jada to wear today, and then get her up to the house. Once Jada was down for breakfast she'd probably grab something to eat too, but then she needed to get to work. She and Glenn were going to go back up to the highway today, find another car - she just had to get it fixed up enough to make it to the farm, and then she could finish tune ups there.

At first Dale had come with, not Glenn, but Renee had found he talked a lot about things she'd rather not think of, much less have a conversation on. At least Daryl dropped the subject when she asked him to, Dale wouldn't let it go.

Some of the cars were okay, just needed a bit of a kickstart - it'd been months since any of them had moved. Others had been victims of the chaos of whatever had left that particular gridlock empty. They'd already found a blue Honda Civic and a silver Ford F-150, Rick just wanted one more. They needed to have enough cars incase the worst happened, everyone was nervous knowing that Randall's group was lurking around.

"C'mon sweetie," she shook Jada's shoulder, "Time to get up."

"You sure this time?" Jada muttered.

"What'd I tell you about back talk?" Renee warned, and Jada grumpily pulled herself to her feet. Renee sighed, it was going to be another long day.

* * *

><p>He didn't see Renee at breakfast. If he asked her about it later he knew he'd get the typical, 'oh I grabbed something to eat early' response. She'd been doing well, and it worried him. The switch between the terrified girl he'd seen that night, and something startlingly similar to a strung out Merle - a bit less violent, but nonetheless - was nearly instantaneous. She'd been doing too well, and he had no idea how to talk to her about it.<p>

Every fucking time he just got shut down.

Maybe he deserved it, this is what he got for shutting her out before wasn't it? Yeah...now he'd figured out how damn annoying it was. He was worried. Really worried. She was losing weight she didn't have, wasn't sleeping, woke him up clawing for air at least twice a night. She was slipping, and she wouldn't even acknowledge it. He didn't know what they'd done to her...no he was pretty damn sure he knew, and he was willing to personally kill every last one of them for it.

He slammed the axe down, and the log split. T-Dog and Jimmy were dragging another felled tree up from the woods, Rick and was chopping the trees into logs, and he was splitting it into firewood. Then Beth and Maggie were loading it into wheelbarrows, and bring it up to the woodshed. They had a pretty good system going. He straightened, wiping the sweating off his brow, they were almost done for now. He was going to make a run later, army surplus store he knew not far away - she needed a new knife.

Wanted to get her a gun too, something easy to keep on her, pistol. Didn't have to be fancy, just had to work - past time she learned how to use one.

* * *

><p>"Daryl I'm supposed to be working on the new truck."<p>

"You can work on the truck later. Need to use the light while we got it." He said, walking side by side with her up to the backfields. He had her new knife and gun in his bag, the gun wasn't anything fancy, knife was nice though. Military issue, meant to be in a fight, blackened blade. Gotten her a holster and sheath to match. He'd be making another run down there sometime soon, Rick wanted some more weapons - he was getting uneasy.

"You still won't tell me what we're doing," she grumbled, glaring at him playfully.

"It's a surprise." He bit back a smile. He liked times like these, where he could just pretend she was okay for a bit. Not have to worry so much...he should have gone to get Rick, shouldn't have told Lori to fuck off like he did.

The cans he'd put up the other day were still on the fence line, they'd start with easy stuff, just shooting straight. She'd pick up on it quick, she had a good aim.

"Got ya something," He said, swinging his bag around to root around for her new weapons. He found the knife first, already strapped into its sheath. He drew it, and held it out to her, hilt first, "Test the weight, make sure it feels balanced." She eyed the black blade, but took it, tossing it about in her hand.

She nodded, "Feels good...thank you," she added hastily. "When'd you get this?"

"Made a run today." He shrugged, going through the bag again for the gun and holster.

"You brought me all the way up here to give me a knife?" She raised a brow, the corner of her mouth raising into a smirk.

"Got you this too," he handed her the gun as she clipped the knife to her belt, "Figured it was time for you to learn how."

Her brow furrowed, mouth tugging into a frown, "I-I, thank you...but I don't need a gun. I have my bow." She forced a smile.

He bit his lip, he'd been trying real hard not to lose his patience with her the last couple of weeks, "You need to know how to use it, Red." He pushed it towards her again, and she shook her head, "The bow ain't gonna save you at close range. Walkers are slow going, but a person? One of those guys comes at you, you don't have time to get an arrow out, what the hell you think you're gonna do?"

"Use my knife." There was something cold in her words that gave him pause. She wouldn't look at him. He bit his lip and took a deep breath.

"Renee, please. You don't have to use it unless you gotta, I just need you to know how." His voice was starting to verge towards pleading, though he really didn't want to go there.

"_You _need me too?" She raised a brow again.

"Yes!" He growled, taking her hand and placing the gun in it, "Gonna go insane everytime you're off on your own if you don't. It was hard enough finding you like -"

Her eyes took on a hard glint, and he stopped himself. Taking another deep breath. "Renee I can't make you tell me. I can't make you let me help you, but I can make sure it doesn't happen again. So please, for fucks sake, let me teach you to shoot."

She looked at the gun in her hand, and let out a bitter laugh. He didn't get it. She didn't object anymore though, as he showed her where the safety was, how to load it, how to cock it. She knew some of the basics. Just needed to make sure she would remember.

"You got all that?" He asked, looking down at her, gun held out butt first. She nodded, and took it. "Alright," he came behind her, one hand on her shoulder another on her lower back as he fixed her posture, "Make sure you're standin' right. Shoulder width apart," she adjusted, "Left foot a bit back, gotta keep your balance, gonna be a bit of kick back."

"Yeah I know." She said, and he rolled his eyes. Yeah he knew she knew, just making sure.

He ran his hands up her arms, "Right arm straight, " he gently pushed it into position, "Left can be at a bit of an angle." He came around her side, "Hammer's gonna come down when you pull the trigger," she adjusted her thumbs and he nodded, "There ya go. Alright, now get it level," he slid back behind her, ducking his head down so his chin rested on her shoulder, "Bit more."

"It's level," she said, he could feel her rolling her eyes.

"It ain't."

"It is!" She argued, "You just aren't at my angle."

"What?" Daryl's lips found the side of her neck, "I need to get closer?"

She laughed, "Daryl, I thought you were trying to teach me how to shoot."

He chuckled, kissing the spot where her neck met her shoulder, "Alright then, get it level." It took her a moment, but she got it eventually, "Alright, now get that first can in your sights. There you go line it up," he stepped back, giving her her space, "Alright, whenever you're ready."

She took a breath, and squeezed the trigger. The can didn't budge, "Damn it," she cursed.

"Try it again."

* * *

><p>She hadn't been as terrible a shot as she thought she'd be. Daryl had been a lot more patient about guns than he had been that first day when he'd tried to get her to load his crossbow. Now that she thought back on it, he knew damn well she wouldn't be able to pull the string back. She shook her head, she wasn't sure if he'd been trying to test her or fuck with her.<p>

Jada was still gardening. Renee was finally getting around to the truck she and Glenn had brought down. It was a sturdy looking thing, a black Chevy Tahoe. It had held up well - could use a new carburetor, but that was probably the old owner's fault more than anything. She'd see if she could salvage a decent one tomorrow.

Dinner would be soon. She was kind of hungry, but she was pretty sure if she stayed just a bit longer she'd be able to get it done. The carburetor would be the only thing she'd have to save for tomorrow. They'd have enough cars for everyone to make a get away, they'd been running kind of low since she left her Camaro, and Daryl's truck broke, and they left Cherokee on the highway, and Shane left with the Hyundai, and Renee had abandoned the sedan (they'd gone up there, the poor thing's windshield had been blown out). The group hardly had any cars left, they had just been borrowing Hershel's. Though she supposed now Hershel was part of the group - they were staying after all.

"Renee?" She looked up, Carol was standing next to the hood.

"What's up?" She asked. She needed a socket wrench. Quickly she ducked down to her toolbag, going through it with a series of metallic clanks.

"Dinner's ready." Carol's voice sounded like she thought Renee was made of the glass or something. She was fine.

"I'll be there in a minute." Renee brushed her off, finally finding that socket wrench.

"It's gonna get cold," Carol said. She'd been getting better since Sophia was found, she'd had to. Renee had had to too. She was fine. Just busy.

"I need to finish this while I still have the light." Renee didn't look up.

"You can finish it in the morning," Carol said, a bit firmer.

"I need to go find a new carburetor in the morning." Renee argued, straightening to look at her, "Won't matter if I'm a little late to dinner."

"Renee, please. Daryl's worried. I'm worried. I'm pretty sure Jada's noticed something's up with you." Renee closed her eyes and took a breath, "She's young, but she's not stupid." Renee bent down to put the socket wrench back, "Please, Renee. Just come get some dinner."

"Fine." Renee muttered, turning back towards camp, "Since when did you get so pushy?" She raised a brow.

"Since I figured out I need to be." Carol matched her pace, smiling at her, "It's kind of useful."

Renee scoffed, smiling and shaking her head, "On your end."

* * *

><p>Jada had fallen asleep over an hour ago. Daryl had convinced her not to go back to the truck, instead she was laid out across his chest reading in the dim lamplight. His arm was hooked around her, thumb absentmindedly tracing over the bit of skin between her shirt and her pants. She'd found a copy some cheesey historical romance novel in the house, didn't know who'd owned it before, but Maggie said she could take it - maybe it had been Hershel's wife's. It wasn't exactly spectacular, but it was something to do.<p>

"You gettin tired?" He asked.

"Nah," she dog-eared the book, rolling over to rest her chin on his chest and look at him, "Why, you wanna turn out the lights?"

"If you're still readin-"

"No it's okay." She set the book down on the floor, and reached over him to flick the lamp off, "I was getting kind of bored anyways." She kissed him once as she came back over, and then settled into the crook of his arm. Her fingertips traced down his chest, his ribs, stopping at his hip then slowly making their way up. He let out a content sounding sigh. "We've never really talked about what we're doing here."

"I'd say we're going to bed."

She laughed quietly, "No, us. We've been together almost two months now," she craned her neck to look up at him though it was too dark to see, "Never talked about it."

"Figured we didn't need to," he shifted so he could wrap his arm around her, "Labels don't really matter anymore."

"No...I guess not." Her fingers kept making little circles, up and down, and up and down, "With everything that's been going on...having a boyfriend sounds kind of trivial."

"That what I am?" He asked, a sort of sleepy amusement in his voice.

"Well, we live together, I'd say your a pretty serious one - you know, if boyfriends were still a thing." She smiled, letting her hand fall to rest on his sternum. Daryl Dixon: Redneck Extraordinaire, Serious Not-Boyfriend. She giggled to herself, letting her eyes fall closed for a moment. She was tired, but she didn't like what she saw when she slept. "What's that make me?"

"I dunno…" he muttered, "Just kinda thought of you as mine."

She had a stifle a laugh so she wouldn't make up Jada, "Oh I'm yours am I? And you are mine, Ser Daryl of House Dixon."

"What?" He laughed over the word, looking at her.

"Oh c'mon, Game of Thrones? You never watched it?" She looked up at him.

"Pfft, you think I was gonna pay for that HBO shit?" He laughed, she could feel the hum of his chest against hers. She should tell him...he would understand...still...she wasn't going to think about it. She was his, and he was hers, and that's what mattered in the end.

**I'm pretty sure I subconsciously changed the layout of Hershel's house from what it was supposed to be, so I just decided to use the new one. Anyways I hope you guys liked the chapter! Got some Renyl mixed between the staved off emotional problems, so that's fun hahah. Tell me what you thought! **

**See ya soon! **


	24. Here

**Chapter twenty four! Hopefully will post this sometime during the weekend (well that didn't happen), I have riding, work, and an essay to write, but I want to get another chapter up haha. Random question, did Daryl feel a little OOC last chapter? I was having a hard time telling. **

**I added a few more songs to the playlist. Two Johnny Flynn songs, one by The Oh Hello's...and something else I can't remember what though. **

**WARNING: This chapter will contain mentions of rape and abuse.**

**Thanks to everyone who has followed and favorited. Special thanks to las131984, Inkandtrees, Lady-Finwe, my-forgotten-rose, and Crazyhumor for the reviews!**

**Chapter 24 - Here**

Daryl's jacket was warm. She supposed it had to be, it was the only thing he owned with sleeves.

She had finally managed to get out to a Wal-Mart the other day. She and Lori had pulled together a bunch of warmer clothes - jeans, and jackets, and long sleeved shirts - and brought them back to the farm. Daryl didn't seem to like the idea of her going out there on her own - and by on her own, she meant without him - but she'd been fine. She was always just fine.

There hadn't been any really warm clothes, no heavier coats, or scarves and mittens. The world had ended in the summer after all. Maybe they'd find some sort of outdoor sporting store. They had to have some sort of decent coat.

What she'd gotten for herself and Jada was warm enough for just walking around the farm, but the wind cut right through her on the bike. Daryl had been letting her use his leather jacket, he'd been wearing a colorful, wool poncho instead. She liked it, meant when she wrapped her arms around him her hands got to rest between a nice toasty blanket, and a nice toasty Daryl.

She'd really started to love riding on the motorcycle. Daryl hadn't killed her yet, and it was nice just to zone everything out, use him as a pillow with built in heater. Sometimes she was worried that she'd fall asleep like that, just topple off the bike. Sometimes the forced radio silence wasn't so nice, gave her too much room to think.

She frowned, pushing thoughts of dead things out of her head. Instead she nuzzled up against Daryl's back, and squeezed a bit harder. She couldn't hear a damn thing, but she felt him laugh. It was weird, Daryl wasn't exactly sunshine and rainbows, but he certainly wasn't the crotchety redneck she'd met a few months ago. At least not with her (usually). His people skills were wanting for something, but he could be sweet - she'd give him that.

She didn't open her eyes, but she was pretty sure they were almost there - they were slowing down. She leaned with him as they rolled around the turn into the parking lot, and finally she lifted her head. It was your general dinky, hick town, side-of-the-middle-of-nowhere kinda store. Complete with gravel parking lot, lazily painted cinder block walls, and a couple rusted out trucks from the fifties around back. It was the kind of place you only knew about if you lived there, and that's where Maggie was useful.

She'd become the go to guide for all their needs. Glenn was good at getting in and out, but it only went so far when you didn't actually know what you were getting in and out of. Those two had become quite the tag team, planning out runs together over maps at odd hours of the night. Sometimes she'd hear Glenn come back to his tent at two in the morning, sometimes even later.

She was usually awake anyways.

Daryl kicked to a stop, and she was the first one to swing off the bike. Her new knife was at her hip, gun strapped to her thigh, quiver on her back. She unhooked her bow from the bike, and handed Daryl his. They left the farm armed to the teeth these days. No taking chances.

The F-150 pulled up behind them, Rick jumping down from the drivers side. Maggie had been shotgun, Glenn had had the back seat. The truck bed was reserved for whatever they picked up on their run today. Today's lineup included a gun shop, a grocery store, and a Toys-R-Us. The last was at Renee's insistence that if they didn't go, she'd go on her own. She'd finally thought to ask Jada about her birthday, she was going to be seven...in exactly three days (Hershel was the only man insane enough to keep a calendar at the end of the world).

Rick was the one who finally agreed, they'd need to pick some stuff up for the baby anyways - might as well find a crib, and a few toys, and some clothes, and all that baby stuff. She didn't really know, she was the little sibling, she'd never been around babies all that much.

First were the guns.

"You ever been in there, Maggie?" Rick asked as Daryl and Renee approached the truck, "We're going to want to clean it out, it'd be helpful to know what they've got. Can't risk those men from town getting their hands on any more guns."

"No," She said, "Daddy never liked weapons, so we didn't come down here. I had friends who hunted all the time, one whose dad was a big gun freak. This place should be pretty well stocked if no one's been there already."

Daryl glanced over his shoulder, "Don't think we'll have a problem with that." The group looked to him, "The doors," he nodded back towards the store, "they're chained."

"Glenn," Rick said, double checking his pistol was loaded. They wouldn't know exactly why the store had been chained shut until they got in there, but it could range anywhere from keeping the living out to keeping the dead in. "Did you bring the bolt cutters?"

Glenn nodded, "They're in the back."

"Grab'em," Rick said, and then turned to the others, "Daryl, Renee, go poke around the back, would you? See if we've got more than one way out."

They nodded, walking off side by side. His jacket was too big on her, she had to push the sleeves way up just to have use of her hands. It was long too, she could easily pull it down over her ass, if she had been wearing shorts it would like she didn't have pants on at all. She breathed in the cool fall air, digging her hands deep into her oversized pockets.

"We really going to clean out a whole store?" She asked once Rick was out of earshot.

"If we gotta," Daryl said, turning around the corner. No back doors so far, just tiny windows with iron bars.

"Hershel's going to have a heart attack when we come back. Where the hell are we going to put them all?" She asked, the store wasn't big, maybe it wouldn't be too many. They could use the backup should all go to hell, still, she didn't love the idea of having so many guns around. They were impersonal. A bullet was a cold death - she didn't want it to be easier.

"I dunno, let Rick figure it out."

"Is that gonna be your answer for everything, Daryl?" She asked, and he looked at her, confused, "Let Rick figure it out?" She laughed, "You know you can have opinions."

"Rick wants to make decisions, he can make decisions. I don't want no part of it. I'm just here to-"

"To what? Be the muscle?" She smiled, poking his bicep, "You know, you have a disturbingly laissez-faire attitude when it comes to the group."

"The hell is laissez-faire?" He asked, absolutely mangling the french words.

"It's an economic term, means hands off." He shrugged as they rounded the next corner, still no other doors. This was the last wall too. "I know you give a shit, you just don't want to cause it's hard. You didn't just put your hands up and walk away from Sophia."

"Red," his voice took on a warning tone, "You don't get to lecture me for this shit. You ain't exactly been mint condition either."

"I'm just worried about you." It was quiet for a moment, and Daryl stopped. It took her a second to notice before she turned around. He was watching her with those blue eyes and that frown, and she knew he was trying to puzzle it out. That icy feeling spread through her chest again. Maybe he was right. She had her problems, he had his - if she wanted to keep hers where they were, she would have to stop pushing too.

Something felt off about that. Her parents had been able to tell each other everything. Still, her parents hadn't had to live through the apocalypse. She wanted to tell him...she did...just how do you start to say something like that?

"You were having nightmares again last night." He said, meeting her eyes.

"Now who's pushing?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I ain't pushing, Red," he said, adjusting his bow across his back, "You wanna know why I don't give a shit about the group? It's cause it don't work. Not a damn person can agree on a damn thing, and nothing gets done. If Rick wants to take over and make the decisions, let him." He started walking again and she followed.

"You didn't feel that way about Shane."

"Shane could have blown out every walker in that barn, and I wouldn't have given a shit." He glanced down at her, eyes softening, "It's you that I cared about."

She didn't have time to respond, they were almost back to the others. So maybe it was just her who couldn't open up. He was getting bitter about it, she could feel it. Probably didn't help that she was waking him up several times a night. He was patient, and he was trying, and she was grateful for that. Still she just couldn't get the words to come out.

"Find anything?" Rick asked, and Daryl shook his head. "Alright, we'll need to keep someone by the doors until we know we're in the clear, make sure we can get back out again."

"I'll do it." Maggie volunteered.

Rick nodded. "Glenn, you got the bolt cutters?" Glenn held them up, and together they turned towards the store. Renee drew an arrow and Daryl loaded his crossbow as the chains snapped. Rick raised his gun, and the doors were thrown open.

Empty...so far.

Maggie held the doors as the others began to comb through oddly neat shelves. Most places had been ransacked, so it was weird seeing a store look almost normal. Almost. It was dark, and a bit of dust had accumulated on the meticulously stocked shelves. A rather large bloodstain marred the front of the counter. She hissed at Daryl, nodding to the dried brown streaks over the floor and candy bars.

If something died in here, it was more likely than not still hanging around.

The shelves were filled with ammo, cleaning kits, a bunch of stuff that she didn't really know about...she'd never been big on guns. She knew how to work her pistol, and she was a halfway decent shot, but really she preferred her bow. The counter was glass, an array of handguns and hunting rifles laid out underneath. The heavy duty stuff was up on the wall.

The store wasn't big, there didn't seem to be a back room either. Just a hundred square feet of concrete and bullets. If any walkers were lurking they would have to be behind the - her heart started as a mostly skeletal hand reached for her shoulder. With a cry she dropped her bow, wrapped its hand in hers, and swung it into the wall. Her knife was out in seconds as she pinned its chest with her left arm, and drove the blade between its eyes with her right.

Once, twice, a third time, and she pushed the thing to the ground, leg raising to stomp her boot through its skull.

"Renee," Daryl called her back with a hand on her shoulder, "I think it's dead enough as is."

She blinked. The others were all watching her with concerned frowns.

"You shouldn't treat them like that…" Maggie said, watching the mangled skull warily, "It's already too much like killing people."

"It's not." Renee stated, knife hanging limply at her side. She didn't make eye contact with anyone as she brushed past Daryl, and turned to head back off in the shelves, start looking for supplies. She wanted to be alone for a bit.

* * *

><p>No one mentioned her outburst again as they loaded up the guns into the back, or when they were scraping canned food off the shelves of a Kroger, or when they finally walked into Toys-R-Us. Or a couple of them did. Glenn, Maggie, and Daryl were staying with the truck, it probably wasn't a great idea to leave a load of guns on its own. She and Rick were the only ones who needed anything anyways.<p>

"So?" She loosed an arrow on a check-out walker, "Baby stuff first?" She glanced at Rick, he was starting to grow a bit of a scruff. It suited him. She'd have to ask Lori what she thought about it later.

"If you want."

"Well, I still have no idea what to get Jada...so yeah, baby stuff first." She'd thought about maybe getting her some dolls, though she'd be playing with dolls alone most of the time. Carl probably wouldn't want to. She had to avoid anything electric, batteries were more important for other things… "What're you gonna get?"

"Crib, toys...gonna wait on clothes till the baby comes, don't know what size to get yet." He said, and she nodded. Watching the aisle signs for something that seemed to point towards 'infant'. "You wanna talk about what happened back at the gun store?" He asked suddenly.

"Oh, don't you start too." Renee drew and arrow, and quickly had it through a soccer mom's eye.

"Renee, I know."

Her heart all but stopped, "What?"

"I know you killed one of those men from town." Rick said, meeting her eyes. Her jaw tightened, and she kept walking. Something groaned an aisle over and she drew her knife. "Renee, I think you need to talk about this. You need to get it out."

"Do me a favor and tell me exactly how you know that?" She asked as they turned down the baby care aisle, and she shoved her knife through another clerk's skull.

"With Maggie today, you said killing walkers and people isn't the same. You said it like you knew the difference." She could feel him looking at her, but she kept her gaze firmly tied to a squeaky teething toy.

"And you would?" Her lips twisted into a bitter smile.

"I killed two men that night, Renee, maybe more," he said, and she finally met his eyes, "You aren't the only one who's had to do things they wish they didn't have to."

"How do you know I had to?"

"You aren't a monster, Renee." She let her gaze drop again, her chest felt tight, "I'm not a monster either. We did what we had to do, and I know that's a hard thing to accept after…" He trailed off, "Look, Renee, I'm not asking you tell me the details if you don't want to. I don't need to know why, or how...but I think it, I think you should talk to someone."

"It's not that easy." She had to force the words out through a tight throat.

"Renee, I know that it-"

"I killed someone Rick!" She snapped, turning on him, "I killed someone! I put my knife through his head, and I saw the life go out of his eyes. _We don't kill people,_ I heard you say that more than anyone -"

"We don't get to have that choice anymore!" He cut her off, voice intensely quiet, "It was you or him, wasn't it?" She glared at his chest. "It was you or him," he pressed, ducking down to meet her gaze. She nodded stiffly. "I don't expect you to talk to me about that night, or anyone else in the group for that matter. What you tell them is up to you," She looked at him gratefully, "I promise."

"Thank you."

"But I think you need to talk to Daryl." She closed her eyes and sighed. She knew.

"I'm going to go look for that present for Jada," she said, moving past him.

"Yell if you need help," he offered, he sounded tired.

"I will." She was about to leave the aisle when she turned, "Rick?" He looked back up, "Thank you."

She still couldn't figure out what she was going to get Jada. The damn place was full of toys, and for some reason she couldn't just pick one and go. She sighed, making her way down yet another aisle full of colorful packaging. She'd decided the dolls were a definite no - half the barbies had been witness to something horrible, their pretty pink cases painted red.

Another five minutes of wandering through aisles of toys that were useless to a kid in the apocalypse, and she was going to go crazy. Rasping breaths reached her ears as little hands shoved their way through boxes to grab at her. Oh god, she was going to be sick. She was used to the walkers for the most part, but sometimes they were a bit much...specifically when they were children. The hands followed her all the way up the aisle as some little kid desperately tried to get to her.

She drew her knife. It groaned, and growled, and knocked things down all the way to the end of the aisle. She turned the corner, and put the blade neatly through the top of a little girl's head, pink dress crumpling with her. _We don't get to make those choices anymore._

* * *

><p>She'd finally decided on a stuffed appaloosa horse. It had soft fur, and floppy legs, and shiny brown eyes. She'd managed to find a gift bag and tissue paper, and wrapped it up inside so Jada wouldn't know what it was. It had gone in the backseat of the truck with Glenn, and now she was pressed against Daryl again as they rumbled down the road. He had to have the best memory of anyone she knew. He'd kept the bike up front the entire run even though he'd heard the directions maybe once. It was fucking unnatural.<p>

Rick was right, she needed to talk to Daryl. She'd known she'd needed to talk to him for the last two weeks. She kept telling herself Daryl wouldn't care, he wouldn't be mad. She repeated it over and over again, even though her heart started beating funny and her breath didn't come out quite right.

She slid her hands farther up his chest under the poncho, the wind was getting a bit chilly. She didn't know how he sat up there, his face must be freezing. Or how he could see for that matter, the wind was killer. She didn't like looking up unless she had to, but she was pretty sure they were almost back to the farm. Going back to the farm meant no more blaring wind in her ears, and that meant they were physically capable of speaking.

She knew she should talk to him sooner rather than later, putting it off just gave her more time to overthink things. Still, as they weaved down Hershel's drive, she couldn't help but think about how desperately she didn't want to.

The bike rolled to a stop, and they jumped off. They needed to help unload everything, that gave her at least another thirty minutes of stalling time. Maggie and Glenn were set to organizing guns in the closet Hershel had set aside, Rick and Lori started taking the baby's things into the guest room they would be staying in - they'd all be moving into the house soon enough anyways - Daryl started bring canned food into the kitchen for Patricia and Carol to sort. She got to avoid the hard work, taking the sparkly blue gift bag up to Beth's room to hide for a couple days.

She'd talk to him. She just needed some time.

* * *

><p>Renee had been weirder than normal today. Ever since she and Rick came back to the truck, really. It wasn't the normal weird either, she was evasive instead of dismissive, nervous and not making eye contact. She spent most of the afternoon furiously doing laundry. He frowned, watching her walk back up from the chicken coop hand in hand with Jada. He hadn't thought their conversation behind the gun store was a fight...had it been a fight? She didn't seem all that mad at him.<p>

She didn't want to talk to him though. Which made him think she might be mad? Fuck if he knew. She'd missed dinner again, and she hadn't had a pre-planned excuse when he asked her about it this time. Just muttered something about being busy and wandered off. He was going to go insane trying to figure her out, and go absolutely batshit trying to keep her from busying herself into an early grave.

Jada ran off to play with Carl. The two of them had started using the barn as a playground now that it wasn't full of walkers. The adults had agreed, as long as Carl made extra sure Jada didn't get too close to the edge of the loft. Renee caught his eye, just for a moment, and then disappeared into their tent. He jumped up to follow. They needed to talk, he didn't want her dancing around him the rest of the week.

She was sitting on the edge of their cot when he found her, head in her hands. She didn't look up though he knew she heard him come in. He watched her quietly - she looked smaller than normal. He'd had half a mind to start talking when he came in, but something stopped him. His breath felt heavy in the silence, he didn't feel like he was allowed to move yet.

"Daryl?" She still didn't look up, "Can I talk to you?" It sounded like she was fighting to keep her voice level. He didn't say anything, just took those steps from the door to the bed, and sat next to her. They weren't quite touching, though he could feel the space between them. She didn't sound mad. He closed his eyes. That left one other thing to talk about. "That night...when you picked me up on the road…"

"Those men found you didn't they?" He was fighting to keep his voice level too, she didn't need him to be growling and snapping over this. If she just need him to be there, then he'd be there.

"Just one." Her words sounded hollow. He wanted to put his head in his hands, wanted to let out the breath that was building against his chest. He couldn't though. She just needed him to be there. All he could think about was the way his mom used to scream from the kitchen when his old man came home too drunk. Merle had tried to stop him once...he didn't try it again, his nose was still kind of crooked from that night. "He chased me into the woods...he's why I fell down the cliff, sprained my ankle, it was jump or let him get me."

Some part of him hoped the story would end there, but the way his jaw twitched...he knew damn well she wouldn't have been a wreck for the past three weeks over a close call and a sprained ankle, "He found you again?" He asked, though he already knew the answer.

She nodded slowly, still not looking at him, "He must have followed me along the creek...when I got out he was just...there." Her shoulders shook with a brief, humorless laugh, "I think I made him mad, I'd bitten him earlier...he threw me up against a tree, and he-" She broke off, taking a shaky breath. He didn't want to hear the next part, he knew he had to, but it felt like someone was driving a knife through his chest. "I didn't have a choice." Her voice trembled.

She'd been raped. He'd go track the bastard down if it would do her a damn bit of good, but he knew it wouldn't. He just needed to be there for her. He slid back on the cot, and gently pulled her up into his lap. Her head found his shoulder, her hands gripping his shirt as he wrapped his arms around her. Her chest heaved with a haphazard breath, he couldn't see, but he was pretty sure she was crying. He pressed a kiss to her hair, holding her close.

"I didn't have a choice." Her words broke over a tightened throat, "I didn't want to." He could feel her shaking, and he just held her tighter, "I killed him, Daryl." The world felt very quiet for a moment, only to be broken by a fragile sob, "I didn't have a choice, it was me or him, I…" her breath hitched, "I put my knife through his head, and I left him there."

He didn't have words to give her - he'd never been good with them anyway. He wouldn't say 'good', and he couldn't say she was wrong, because he knew damn well what her other choice was. Still, sobbing quietly in his arms, she felt so terribly small. There was nothing he could give her, other than himself.

"I'm here, Sunshine," he whispered, running his thumb in circles on her back, "I'm here."

And he didn't plan on leaving.

**Sorry this update took longer than the others. I had a busy weekend and not a lot of time to write anything - though one of those anythings is the essay that was due yesterday and I still haven't started...I just desperately don't want to… Anyways I hope you guys liked it. Tell me what you think! I hope to hear back from you guys :) **

**See ya soon!**


	25. Scream Chickadee Scream

**I had planned for the next couple of chapters to be kind of fluffy, but then decided that plotwise they just weren't going to fit anymore...so I added in something special for you guys to make up for the lack of fluff. Anyways I need to start getting my shit together for this fic...we're getting real close to season three, and that's just going to get complicated. (I'll let you make your guesses as to what complicated means). **

**And just personal note cause I'm real excited, I got a cat as an early christmas present. Went to pick her out from the shelter a yesterday. Her name is Watson.**

**Thank you to everyone who has followed and favorited this story, or even just read it for that matter (we've had over 10,000 views this month alone). Special thanks to Starcrier, sillygabby, Inkandtrees, redangel2463, and my-forgotten-rose for the reviews.**

**Chapter 25 - Scream Chickadee Scream**

Her hands grasped into the darkness as she bolted up right, almost immediately they found Daryl's knee. A warm hand held her heaving side, as he slowly sat with her, and she leaned back into his chest. He didn't need to say anything, just wrapped his arms around her, and held her while she tried to even out her breaths. This had been a bad one, it was Jada this time, with a little pink dress and a knife in her head.

"Renee?" He whispered groggily, his forehead resting against her temple.

"I'm okay." She moved her hand from his knee to his chest, twisting to lean into the crook of his neck. His grip on her side tightened, pulling her closer.

"You sure?" He asked, she could feel his lips brushing against her skin.

"No," she said, with a dry laugh. She could be honest now, and she wasn't quite sure how that helped, but it did. He placed a kiss on the top of her head, and she looked up, placing a kiss on his lips. She just wanted the horrible, snakes writhing in your stomach feeling to go away. He kissed back, sleepy and sweet. She felt all too awake. Still, her heart was slowing, and the cold icy adrenaline was slowly being drawn from her veins.

She felt heavy.

With a shaky sigh she drew back, though a lot of her wouldn't have minded kissing Daryl all night, the other part told her she needed to let him sleep. She needed to at least try to get some herself. Tomorrow was going to be a hell of a long day.

"You sure you don't want to talk?" He softly kissed her once, twice, trailing his lips up her cheekbone towards her temple.

"Nothing to say." Her heart was finally finding its rhythm again, "They're just dreams...I hear you have nightmares sometimes, I don't see you asking me to coddle you after those."

He touched his forehead to hers, "Cause I ain't jumping out of bed every time I have 'em." He sighed, letting her head find his chest again as he rested his chin in her hair, and slowly pulled them back to the pillow. The wind rustled dry leaves somewhere above their tent, and she shivered.

"I see people dying when I sleep…" She broke the silence, and she felt him tighten his hand reassuringly, "sometimes they're walkers, sometimes they're alive. Changes night to night." A finger trailed down his chest absentmindedly, "Sometimes its Glenn, or Lori, or Maggie. Sometimes its Jada...or you."

"What's killing 'em?" He asked.

"Me."

* * *

><p>"Wait!" She shouted, "Wait up!" She was fast, Renee had told her so, but Carl was faster. Or at the very least his legs were longer. He was a big kid, it wasn't fair that he got to see everything first. If she could run that fast...she pumped her legs harder, hurtling at break neck speed through Hershel's fields. It was the kind of fast where you don't know where to put your feet, and you're pretty sure you'll fall down if you stop.<p>

Still, Carl maintained the lead as they ran for the woods.

It was his idea to go exploring. Something felt funny in her stomach as they finally sprinted through the treeline. Carl kept saying they'd be fine, he knew how to shoot, and he had the gun he'd swiped off of Daryl's bike. She felt bad about that too, stealing was one thing, but stealing from Daryl was kind of like stealing from her Dad.

Her Mommy would have been ready to throw her in time out, and take away toys, and there would have been yelling and screaming. Her Dad, he just would have been disappointed. The day she'd lost her temper and hit her little sister Lauren, he just got real quiet, and gave her this look that made her feel even more of a child than she was. He told her that she'd lost something called respect.

She didn't know if Daryl respected her, but he liked her (and she knew that was special, because he didn't seem like he liked much of anyone other than Renee), and she didn't want that to change. Carl liked her too though, and she didn't want him thinking she was a chicken. Nobody respected chickens.

"C'mon Jada, hurry up!" Carl called, hauling himself over a fallen log. It took her twice as long to get over it, gripping the grooves in the half rotten wood, and kicking herself up. It was cold, and her breath came out like a dragon's smoke. That's what she always used to do in the winter, she and her sisters would pretend they were dragons, and their older brothers would come slay them with snowballs. She'd pretend quietly now, Carl said pretend games were stupid.

She didn't think she would get to see snow this year, Mommy had told her they don't get as much snow in the south as they do up in Ohio. Her Dad had had a business trip in Atlanta, so the whole family had come as a vacation - they were going to go the beach after he finished all his meetings, it would have been her first time seeing the ocean.

She didn't think she'd get to see the beach ever now. Maybe Carl was right, this was their world - a farm and some woods - they deserved to know what was out there.

He'd finally decided to wait for her as she huffed and puffed her way up to him. Carl said there was a creek down this way, apparently he'd come exploring on his own once or twice. She wanted to see the creek, it wasn't going to snow, but maybe there'd be ice on the water.

"I could kill a walker with this," Carl boasted, aiming the gun at trees as they passed.

"Nuh-uh," she argued, "You're just a kid."

"Kids can kill walkers," he said, not looking at her as he pointed the gun this way and that.

"Yeah? I don't think I've ever seen you shoot a gun."

"Shane taught me," he said indignantly, "The only reason you've never seen me shoot is because you're too small to even go to practice."

"I'm not too small!" She snapped, "Renee just wouldn't let me!"

"Yeah, cause you're too small."

She was about to come back with a response, maybe something about him being small, for eleven he was pretty short - her brother Marcus had been way taller when he was eleven - when she saw the dull brown ribbon of water ahead of them. It wasn't a fast creek, it was slow and lazy, and kind of looked like milky coffee.

"C'mon!" She yelled, running for the water. She got as far as the banks before the mud squelched up into her shoes, and she darted back laughing. It was cold, and her socks were soaked through, but she could always go get more when they got back. He followed behind slowly, like he didn't really care. Big kids were kind of lame sometimes.

"Hey Jada! Come look at this!" He called, and she looked up. It was a walker, she hadn't even noticed it, the brownish gray rot of its skin was like camouflage in the winter woods. Her heart started to beat out of time as it lunged and snarled, but it wasn't going anywhere. It'd gotten stuck. With a morbid curiosity, she picked her way through the soft mud, and stood next to Carl.

"I bet you won't shoot it." She said, watching the thing snap and growl. It was like a very angry dog in cartoons, just a bit more likely to eat you. Carl looked hesitant, and she smiled. Her Mommy would have said he was like a dog too, all bark and no bite. "I told ya-"

He cut her off before she could say 'so', "I could kill it if I wanted to!" He snapped, "Dad just said not to waste bullets."

"Scared!" Jada teased.

"I'm not scared! Guns are just loud, they'll know if we shoot it...we aren't supposed to be out here," he said, and she rolled her eyes.

"Alright then, if you won't shoot it. Walk up to it." She pressed, he didn't seem to like that idea. Then again neither did she. Still, she had to prove she wasn't a chicken, and if she could prove he was a chicken in that process...well, then that was all the better. "Fine, I'll do it." She huffed, though her stomach was full of butterflies...or something worse...bees. The water was cold as she marched in ankle deep, the walker strained and grinned, reaching towards her as she reached out to it.

Their fingers almost touched, and she jumped back, splashing up to the bank, "See!" He still didn't look so sure, "Don't be such a baby!" She said as he watched the walker.

"I'm not a baby," he grumbled.

"Yeah, well I'm not even seven yet, and I almost touched it...so...baby." Carl glared at her, but he took a step forward and stretched his arm out. He didn't even have to go all that deep in the water, his arms were a lot longer than hers.

"There! See? I'm not a baby." He pulled his fingers back, and the walker groaned.

"I dare you to jump past it," she said with a grin. He rolled his eyes, and walked back up the bank for a running start. They should probably be getting back soon, just in case...though they both doubted the adults would find out they weren't in the barn. They were in the living room again, and boy they could talk forever in there.

Carl took off at a sprint, and the walker lunged as the boy flew past it.

"Your turn!" He called from the otherside.

* * *

><p>The bones in his fist ached as he swung down into the kids jaw, again. No one else had wanted to take this job. Torture didn't exactly sit right with anyone...he couldn't say he liked it either. He slammed the toe of his boot into Randall's ribs, and the boy let out a pitiful whimper. Right now though, he was too angry to care. Renee had had a lot of nightmares.<p>

She was lucky. He hated to say it, he hated to say the girl who woke in cold sweats near about every night was lucky. From what he'd got out of Randall though...Renee was lucky she'd gotten her knife into him before he'd gotten into her. Before he dragged her back off to camp. Hell, she was lucky she was alive.

He was lucky he'd ever gotten to see her again.

The boy was begging now, Daryl had what he needed, he kicked Randall in gut one last time, and blood spewed from his lips as he coughed. Daryl didn't say another word as he walked out the door, and locked it behind him. He didn't give a shit about what Dale said, these bastards didn't have an ounce of humanity in them. Kid or no, Daryl didn't want to risk Randall leading them back here...back to Renee, and to Jada.

It was cold out, and he was stuck in his vest. At least Renee had picked him up a few new shirts, she'd threatened to skin him if he cut the sleeves off of these. He was warmer than he could have been, but she had his leather jacket. He didn't protest when she'd stolen it from his bag, it was warmer than her flimsy hoody, and she looked damn cute in it.

The others were already up in the house. The kids were probably off playing in the barn again as far as he knew. He ignored the nip of wind against his cheeks as he walked up the porch. It was only October, didn't get this damn cold in Georgia in October. Maybe global warming wasn't taking its time to fix itself, just hop straight back to cold as balls.

Someone had lit a fire. Everyone was crowded in on the couches or standing around the table, all eyes turned to him as he shut the door. Renee was on the couch between Lori and Carol, practically swallowed whole in his coat. Her eyes found his knuckles, they'd only just healed from his fight with Shane, and he'd split them open again.

"Thirty plus men, well armed, lots of supplies," he said, not waiting for them to question him.

"Women and children?" Dale asked.

Daryl shook his head as he leaned against the threshold of the living room, "He said there were a few...but I don't know how inclined I am to believe him. Kid smells like a rat."

"He say anything else?" Rick asked.

Daryl's eyes flitted to Renee, and then found Rick again, "These guys...they go around hunting down groups, steal from 'em - like at the old folks home. Men get killed on the spot," he bit his lip, trying not to let the words turn into a snarl, "Women get a lot worse." They all knew what he meant.

"Even so," Dale started, "You can't tell me we're going to kill a boy in cold blood!" Dale implored, throwing his hand out towards the shed where Randall was being kept. A few people looked at him in disbelief, "I'm not saying what his group did was right, but he's just a kid. We can't kill a living person like that!"

His eyes found Renee again, she looked like she was trying very hard not to listen. She'd had so many nightmares.

"We can't let him live neither." Daryl didn't look at Dale as he spoke, just watched Renee. He wasn't sure how good this conversation was for her.

"We _can _let him go," Dale insisted, "Rick, please. We drive him ten, twenty miles out, drop him in the middle of no where - we'll give him a chance. They haven't found us yet, they won't find us then. We don't _have_ to kill him." He was met with silence, looking around the room, even Hershel didn't seem convinced. "Glenn?" Dale pleaded, and only got a stiff shake of the head in response, "Hershel?" Another no, "Carol? T-Dog?" Again and again, no one said a word, and no one said yes. "Renee?"

She took a deep breath, and looked at Rick, "It's us or him," she said coldly, not letting any emotion spill over into her lungs, or up to her eyes. Rick looked at her from his spot on the armchair, he seemed conflicted, "It's us," she repeated slowly, "Or him. We don't have a choice."

"We have a choice!" Dale threw his hands up, exasperated, "We always have a choice. We're human beings, living, breathing, human beings. We aren't monsters like them!" He wasn't sure if Dale was talking about the other group or the walkers, "We don't have to kill him."

Renee finally looked at Dale, "Sometime we have to do things we wish we didn't. This isn't the old world...we don't get to make those choices anymore." Her words sounded oddly rehearsed, like she was reading off a script. Rick was watching her intently, hands steepled over his nose and mouth.

"She's right." Rick let his hands fall back to his sides, "We can't just send him back out there."

"This isn't justice," Dale looked lost, "This is some kid getting killed for what someone else might do."

"Ain't about justice anymore," Hershel sounded tired, "It's about keeping what's ours safe. We let him go, we might be losing a lot more than our sense of morality." His daughter looked at him, surprised.

"It's inhumane," Dale argued.

"So's letting him go," Rick stood, "Here...we can give him a clean death, it'll be quick."

"Lot less painful than being left to walkers," T-Dog added.

"We don't know he'll die out there." Dale almost looked like there were tears in his eyes. Daryl shook his head, this is what he meant when he was talking to Renee. Group couldn't just agree. At least it was only Dale who was delusional this time.

"And if he doesn't die?" Daryl's chest felt tight, "You wanna risk him making his way back to his group, even if he doesn't know the address, won't be hard to find us again."

"He won't find his group, we'll take him far off-"

"Ain't that hard to find a map," Daryl interrupted him, "The moment he gets back to his group….There's too much we could lose." He'd almost lost Renee to them once, there wouldn't be a second.

Rick stood, "I'm sorry Dale...I don't like it any more than you do, but Daryl's right. We got too much to lose. One boy, or all of us...maybe more of them. We'll wait till tomorrow...execute him then." The word execute sounded like he'd had to spit it out.

"This isn't human!" Dale was grasping for straws. Apparently he'd accidentally grabbed one of Renee's, she stood, not meeting anyone's eye as she stormed out the door. He knew why too...she'd had a lot nightmares where she was the monster. Now Dale was turning her into one in broad daylight.

He bit his lip, casting a glance around the room before quickly following after her.

* * *

><p>It had taken a while to get everyone's things moved up into the house, tents had to be taken down, personal effects brought into new rooms. It wasn't too bad, she wasn't in the mood for socializing anyways. She and Daryl were all moved in, the kids hadn't seemed too keen to help with the moving process this morning, so they'd been left to their own devices in the barn. Lord knew what they did in there, last time she'd checked they'd been making hay bale forts. Poor Jada could hardly lift them.<p>

They'd gotten the other guest room, the one she'd spent that first night in. It wasn't quite as big, but Rick and Lori were going to need the space for the baby. She and Daryl would have the bed, they'd already set up the cot for Jada. Maybe she could see if they could hang some curtains as a makeshift wall, give Jada her own little room.

Daryl was putting clothes away into drawers, at her insistence, he'd been more than fine with just leaving them in his bag. If they were going to have a dresser they were going to use it, it was too nice not to.

"So, you like the new room?" She asked, wrapping her arms around him from behind.

"Yeah, Sunshine, its nice." He slid the drawer shut, and twisted around to face her. She didn't let go, as he let one hand fall to her hip, the other going to move a piece of hair from her face. Everything tingled as his finger gently traced up her jaw, and tucked it behind her ear.

"Lot of privacy," she commented, her tongue running along her bottom lip. She didn't need to drop anymore hints. He tugged her in close, one hand on her hip the other cupping the back of her neck as he kissed her hard. It had been a while since they'd done more than lazily trace their lips across the others, never enough time alone.

She looped her arms around his neck, meeting him with the same intensity. She moaned, and he held her tighter, his hips flush against hers. Teeth grazed her bottom lip, and her heart beat faster as he sucked at it. She opened her mouth, and he kissed her, tongue working against hers. This was exactly why she'd been wanting this room. His chest rumbled with a quiet laugh as a large hand slid up her back, and step by step, they staggered over to the bed.

A few steps before they reached it she spun around and sat him down hard, not breaking the kiss as she tugged at his vest. Her stomach felt tight and warm, and she could feel herself starting to get wet. God it'd been too long since she'd done anything, she was getting easy. He chuckled, taking his hands from her back so he could pull off his wings. She helped him chuck them to the side, and his hands quickly went up to her shoulders, then ran down her back. Every nerve came to life under his touch, as she put one knee up onto the bed, then the other.

She gripped his collar as she straddled him, nipping and kissing all the way up his jaw line from his chin to his ear. Her hands slowly started working at the buttons on his shirt as her mouth found his earlobe. A groan came low in his throat as fingers popped button after button, working their way from his chest to his stomach, his stomach to his belt.

He seemed to tense a little as she pulled back at the sleeves. His scars, she hadn't asked him about them yet, but she knew he was self conscious. They'd been living together for weeks, and he hardly ever took his shirt off in front of her. She brought her mouth back to his, kissing him slowly, and then pulled back. His eyes didn't have the same blueness in the dim light from the window, more of a steely gray.

His bare chest rose with a breath, then fell, and he shrugged out of the shirt. Her lips found his, he kissed back tenderly, fingers slipping under her hemline, and slowly pulling the shirt up over her head. Her back arched at the feel of his skin against hers, his fingers tracing maddening circles over her lower back, gliding lightly up and down her spine. The kiss deepened again as her hips ground slowly into his, she could feel herself tighten around nothing as she pushed against him.

They'd never gotten this far before. It had never been the right time. There had always been others, or Jada. After the talk today though, no one was going to be bothering them anytime soon.

His hands explored lower, cupping her ass, she tightened again, involuntarily trying to squeeze her thighs together though they were spread over his legs, "When'd you get brave?" She asked between kisses.

He didn't respond, instead squeezed harder, and flipped her over. She giggled as she landed on her back, wriggling up higher on the bed so her feet wouldn't dangle off the side. Her legs laid lazily open, one of his knees between them, his hips over her left thigh. Fingers laced through her hair, as his mouth left her lips and found her chin. Lower and lower, down her jaw, to her throat. She moaned, and he paused. She felt his lips pull into a smile as his tongue slowly worked against her skin.

She wanted him touching her everywhere, but couldn't say a damn thing as he bit down and started sucking the sweet spot on her throat. Her hips thrusted upwards of their own accord, as his lips slowly continued to make their way lower and lower. From her throat to her collar bone, collar bone down to the top of her breast. He started to suck again as she started to sit, he moved with her, and she reached around her back.

The bra clasp came undone, and he quickly pulled the straps from her arms. She fell back to the bed as his mouth found her nipple, tongue tracing circles as she ran her fingers through his hair. A hand ran up her ribs, warm against her skin, and slowly began massaging her other breast. He had big hands, her breasts had never been huge so could easily fit his whole palm around them.

She ground her hips into him, and he pushed back, she could feel him hardening against her. God she really was starting to get wet. She moaned as he kissed all the way down her navel, stopping just above the button to her jeans. His eyes flicked up to hers, and she nodded.

He quickly undid them, and she started to kick out of her pants. His mouth found hers again as his hands tugged at the fabric around her thighs. It didn't take long for her to push them to the floor, and for his fingers to press against her center through her panties. She arched against him, running her hands down his side and up to his ass - a rather firm ass at that - and pulled him closer as he rubbed through her underwear.

"Daryl," she moaned into his kisses, protesting as he took his fingers away and stuck a thumb into the waistband her panties. He ran it from hip to just above her ass, hand sliding down to hold her butt as he ground into her. His other hand was wound through her hair as he kissed her, growling against her neck, and she couldn't help but squirm as his hard dick pressed against her clit with each movement.

They definitely had not gone this far before, but she wasn't exactly complaining. A few moment later the panties were off, and she was reaching for his belt. The buckle was undone, and his pants were on the ground as she slowly, teasingly massaged him through his boxers.

"Red," he groaned, his hand running from her ass down her bent leg, and back up. She hadn't exactly shaved anything in months, but that didn't seem to be what he cared about. He was trailing kisses down between her breasts, as his hands found her center, and he slid a finger inside her.

He worked at a slow and steady rhythm, and she arched into his hand as he curled a knuckle against her walls. She gripped the sheets lazily, flexing around him. Something was missing. Her hand went to his, gently pulling his thumb up to her clit, she moaned as she moved him in circles around it. He seemed to get the idea. Moving his thumb around the nub faster and faster, he added another finger inside her and she kicked out, groaning his name.

He smiled into her lips, kissing her as she moaned against him, bucking her hips and curling her toes into the mattress. Her breaths came hard and fast as she struggled to keep quiet. His other hand roamed everywhere, her breast, her side, her ass, all the way back to her hair as he gently pulled her into a sitting position with him. Suddenly his fingers hit the g-spot just right and she gasped, and absolutely came undone as he moved faster and faster.

"Oh fuck." Her head dropped down, and she bit into his shoulder, trying not to yell as she came. He pumped his fingers slower, and slower, thumb tracing lazy circles around her clit as she caught her breath, and finally pulled off of him. The heat in her stomach relaxed, as her walls tightened and loosened nonchalantly in his absence.

With a smile she trailed her lips all the way down from his shoulder to his hip, as they twisted around each other so he could lay down. Her fingers pulled at his boxers, she had them halfway down, his dick about to spring out when a harsh knock pounded against the door. Daryl cursed quietly, yanking them back up as she rushed to pull a blanket around her.

Lori didn't even blink as she burst through the door, "I can't find the kids!"

* * *

><p>Carl held her hand tighter as they leaped over a log. He'd dropped the gun a while ago, back by the creek, she kind of really wished he hadn't. The walker hadn't gotten any faster, they'd just gotten a lot slower. Her legs just didn't seem to be able to go fast enough, Carl could have been way ahead by now, but he stayed with her. Not letting her go.<p>

They'd played and laughed, and run circles around the monster, but then it got loose. It wasn't a kid dragon you could throw snowballs at; it was a rotting, dead thing. It breathed stagnant air instead of pale mist, and snarled and groaned as it stumbled along behind them.

"We're almost to the farm," Carl assured her through labored breaths, "We're almost back." That was the tenth time he'd said that. She didn't even know if they were going the right way. Renee would have. Renee would have put an arrow through that thing's skull by now. Or Daryl could have just thrown his knife, he'd been showing her how he did it the other day. Renee wouldn't even let her use a knife that sharp, forget throwing one.

She wished she knew how to now.

It was starting to get dark. She was scared. She felt if there were any situation to be a chicken, this was it. Carl helped her over a particularly big log, and the walker thudded to the ground only moment after she'd started running again. The trees were starting to thin, and she thought she could see the white paint of the house through the skinny trunks.

"C'mon run!" Carl yelled, pushing her up in front of him as they took off into the field.

"Jada! Carl!" She couldn't see who was yelling, and she didn't think they could see her either. They were looking though, they'd figured out that they'd left. "Jada! Carl!" She heard again, but this time she saw him. Dale, it was Dale. She could feel a lump forming in her throat as they ran towards him. "Jada! Car-" He broke of, seeing the two children. Then froze seeing what was shambling after.

"Kids!" He yelled, gesturing for them to come to him. The walker was very very close behind as he raised his rifle. He didn't raise it fast enough. Jada screamed with Dale as it sunk its teeth into his neck. A sob caught in her throat as she tripped backwards, and scrambled away. Carl just watched in shocked silence, as teeth tore through flesh, and fingers tore through flesh. It was like little red riding hood, except Dale wasn't the monster, and no lumberjack sprang out to cut the walker in two.

There was just a lot of blood.

She screamed and cried, and Carl watched, and somewhere behind her she could hear adults shouting. No lumberjacks came, but Daryl sprinted past her, leaping into the walker and ripping it off of Dale. The redneck and the monster rolled through the grass, and he put his big knife through its head.

Hands pulled her from the ground and she sobbed into Renee's shoulder as the group gathered around Dale. She wasn't the only one who was crying. Her eyes opened just enough to see Carl, all he seemed able to do was watch. She couldn't even do that.

He was right...gun shots were very very loud.

**Well that chapter was a weird mix of death and sex? Anyways I hope you liked it, I've never written smut before so I'm sorry if it wasn't all that great... Also how did you guys like Jada's POV? This is the first chapter we've gotten to see from her view point. I hope to hear back from you guys! **

**See ya soon! **


	26. White Lies and False Promises

**Ugh I'm so sorry it's been so long since I updated. I got stuck writing college essays, most of them were due January 1st, a few are due a bit later, so I'm not exactly sure when I'm going to end up posting this chapter. To make up for it though, it's extra long. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, and I hope you enjoy this chapter :) **

**Added a song by Wintersleep and one by Wolf Gang to the soundtrack. **

**Thanks to everyone who has followed or favorited this story. Special thanks to Starcrier, my-forgotten-rose, sillygabby, Inkandtrees, redangel2463, casper6six6, and Crazyhumor for the reviews. **

**Chapter 26 - White Lies and False Promises **

Things had been quiet around the farm the last couple of days. No one had wanted to move Dale's sleeping bag, the ratty orange one he'd sprawled across the living room. It was still there. Glenn slept next to the empty spot on the floor even though Maggie kept begging him to come to bed with her. No one had touched the RV either, she hadn't had the heart to.

It was weird that he was gone. He was Dale, annoyingly persistent, and constantly present, and now...now he just wasn't.

The birds had started to sing a couple hours ago. She still hadn't slept, but that wasn't anything new. Instead she just tried to keep her mind from wandering, focusing on the steady in and out of Daryl's breath, the feel of his arm looping around her waist, the sound of his heart against her ear. Keeping her eyes open stung, and her eyelids felt heavy. She could fall asleep now, she was pretty sure, but the sun would be up soon.

She had things to do. A run to make. What good would an extra fifteen minutes do? If anything she'd feel worse when she woke up. Really it would just be best if she got out of bed now, got out, got some fresh air. Maybe Carol and Patricia would let her help with breakfast if she promised she really wouldn't fuck it up this time.

With a suppressed sigh she kicked back the covers, cringing as the cold morning air rushed to her skin. She really missed central heating. She almost had one foot over the edge when a warm hand gripped her arm, and pulled her back. He tugged the blankets into place, securely wrapped her up in his arms, pressed to his chest, and closed his eyes again.

"Sleep," he grumbled, and she smiled softly into his shirt. Fifteen minutes couldn't hurt.

She didn't sleep for fifteen minutes. In fact, by the time she was awake the sun was spilling through the window, and she found herself quite alone. Jada's cot was empty, Franklin haphazardly thrown across the pillow. Daryl's side of the bed was just a rumpled comforter, tucked up so she wouldn't get cold. This was why she'd wanted to get up when she'd had the chance. She was wasting time just lying here.

With a groan she heaved herself off the bed, and struggled into jeans and boots. Her jacket was crumpled on the floor, and she shivered as she shrugged it on, the cotton was still cold from the night. She was going to kill Daryl for not getting her up when he was leaving. She had chores to do, Maggie had asked her to help with the horses. She had a run to make into town, and a child to take care of.

She didn't have time to sleep in.

Voices were drifting down the dimly lit hallway. Sounded like they were coming from the kitchen. Wriggling her hands up into her sleeves she walked after them, she had no idea what time it was, but looking at how bright it was outside she guessed late.

"Morning." She tried to make her voice as cheery as possible, though she still felt like she was dragging around a ton of bricks.

"Afternoon," Carol corrected her, running a sudzy sponge over one of Hershel's dishes. Patricia was at the counter, chopping carrots, "Did you sleep well?" Carol asked with a smile, "Daryl was ready to bite the head off of anyone who went above a whisper this morning."

Patricia giggled, "You should have seen Jimmy, poor boy nearly had a heart attack. You've got an intimidating guard dog there."

Renee laughed, leaning against the counter, "He's not my guard dog. He's just...a grump."

"A grump with a mean streak," Jimmy muttered, appearing in the doorway with a basket of crisp fall apples, "You know your boyfriend hit me with a spoon?" Renee broke down into giggles at that, "All I did was laugh." He sounded rather dejected.

"Like a fucking hyena." Daryl growled. As always he had come in as quiet as a mouse.

"You hit him with a spoon?" Renee smirked, one eyebrow raised.

"No," Daryl grumbled, setting his own basket of apples on the counter next to her, "I hit him. Spoon just happened to be in my hand."

"Okay, Grandma." Renee smiled sleepily, reaching up to place a kiss on the corner of his mouth. Patricia abandoned her carrots for the apples, Jada's birthday was tonight, there was going to be a pie. First there was going to be an execution, but she tried not to think about that, and she hoped it wouldn't sour the pie either.

It was something that had to be done. _Us or him._

That's why she and Daryl were going on a run today. Hardware store...they were going to need some rope. Some part of her felt weird about leaving, it would only be for an hour, maybe even less, but still...she didn't want to leave Jada alone right now. It didn't matter, they needed to get the job done, they'd already put it off after Dale died. She'd volunteered to get the rope, she'd get the damn rope. Jada would still be there when she got back, Beth was watching the kids again, they'd lost their right to not have a baby sitter.

Randall was to be killed before sundown, before the birthday dinner. She still hadn't decided if it would be worse to hang him after, have that looming down on them while they tried to celebrate. There were no good choices these days.

Holding back a sigh she leaned into Daryl, her eyes still felt heavy, and a yawn was building in her throat. It had been a few days since she'd gotten much sleep, and as much as she hated to admit it, it was starting to get to her. He lazily looped his arm around her waist, hand resting on her hip. The others were talking about something to do with the chickens, she hadn't been paying attention.

She couldn't tell if Daryl was, she doubted he cared, he looked like he was thinking too. Though she could never tell what about when he had that damn poker face of his on. She rolled her neck about to look at him, his hair kept getting darker though the little beard he had going on was still gold. He'd gotten lazy about shaving the past couple of weeks, she liked it though, gave her the tingles when his scruff brushed up her neck.

He'd been getting more comfortable recently about the whole relationship thing. They weren't really good at talking about their feelings, but she could feel him loosening up. He wasn't so tense when she leaned on him around the others, and once he'd even kissed her back in front of Rick. It was a short kiss, chaste, but he didn't just stand there like a post.

"You wanna go on that run soon?" She murmured softly, "If you'd rather wait, I've got some chores to do."

"We can wait a bit." He dropped back out of the clouds, looking down at her, "Caught a couple rabbits this morning, was gonna gut em when Jimmy showed up . Gonna rot if I leave em layin' round any longer."

She nodded, "I just need to muck a few stalls out for Maggie, shouldn't take too long…" She frowned thoughtfully, and his thumb started to trace circles on her hip, "Jada get up okay?"

He nodded, "Had to carry her outta the room," his chest vibrated with a quiet laugh, "but yeah, she got up."

"Good." Jada was always hard to wake up, but it had been worse since Dale died. It had only been a few days...Jada was a kid, maybe she'd be able to bounce back? Renee sighed, shifting so she could face Daryl, head pressing into his breastbone. Jada and Dale had always gotten along, since that first day when he'd found her in the gridlock.

Daryl rested his face in her hair, and she sighed. She, Jada, and Glenn were all that was left of their little RV family. Amy, Jim, and Dale were dead, Andrea was gone. In some weird way she missed Atlanta. The farm was a nicer place to live, but the quarry had been simple. Back when she thought she was an airlift away from a hot shower and child services.

She wouldn't give up Jada for the world now. She wouldn't give up what she had with Daryl. Still, life had been easier pretending the world hadn't stopped.

"I'm gonna head down the stable," she started, pulling back, "Get those chores done."

"You eaten yet?" He asked, catching her wrist. He made damn well sure she met his eyes. She had issues lying when he was staring at her like that, his eyes were just so blue.

"I'll be fine, Daryl." She blew him off, starting to walk away, but he pulled her back. Didn't say a word, just shoved an apple into her hand, and waited patiently till she took a rather begrudging bite. She caught the tail end of Patricia and Carol's 'aww' smirks, and she glared playfully as she passed, taking another bite of the apple.

She used to help Anna muck stalls, back at the farm she lived on. It wouldn't take her long. They'd be in town soon.

* * *

><p>Daryl and Renee had left a little while ago. Renee had come to say goodbye, then Jada had watched them from the window, Daryl's bike disappearing down the driveway. She was pretty sure they were mad at her, she was pretty sure everyone was mad at her. Why wouldn't they be? She was mad at herself.<p>

Today was her birthday, last year she'd had a big party with all of her friends, and family. They'd given her gifts, and they'd played games, and her Mommy had gotten her favorite cake - chocolate, with the thick chocolatey stuff between the layers instead of icing - from her favorite bakery, and they'd decorated it all pink. With the tiers, and the pretty glitter swirls along the smooth pink sides, it almost looked like it could have been a princess's palace. A princess's palace that tasted like chocolate.

She always used to be so happy on her birthday. She wasn't feeling very happy today though. Today her stomach felt woozy, and every time she saw Glenn or Renee she felt even worse. They'd looked the most upset at the funeral. Renee had been crying a lot, though Jada was pretty sure she'd tried to hide it. She still looked all puffy and red. Glenn started crying too, and had to hold Maggie's hand.

They all used to eat breakfast together.

She knew everyone else was upset too, Carol had cried, and Rick's voice went all funny for a second when he was giving the...Renee had called it something...yooloogy? No one was happy, and they were all trying to hold it back. Except her. She had tried to cry, she really had, but for some reason the tears wouldn't come out. Her throat wouldn't even get all tight. All she could do was stand there and watch the little wooden cross next to Sophia's.

She was worried they wouldn't think she was sorry.

"Carl," Beth said, "Why don't you come color with us?" She had pulled out crayons and paper, and spread them out on the floor. Carl didn't want to though, he was a big kid. Jada hadn't really felt like coloring either, but it was better than just sitting there. That's what Carl was doing, just sitting.

Carl didn't respond to the question, just said, "I need to go to the bathroom."

Beth frowned, "Go use the bathroom then, but come right back, okay?" Carl didn't say anything, just walked out and shut the door behind him. Beth watched him go, before painting on a smile and handing her a purple crayon. Beth hadn't been very happy recently either, though Jada was pretty sure that was something that happened before Dale died. That's why she wasn't supposed to ask about the angry red scar on her wrist.

She could ask about other things though. Things that had been eating at her for the past few days.

"Is it my fault that Dale died?" It was one of those questions she had to ask, even though she regretted asking it a few minutes later when things got real quiet and Beth stopped smiling.

"No," Beth rushed to say, "No of course not."

"But he was looking for me, and he got killed by the walker that was chasing us." Jada didn't want to meet Beth's eyes, instead she just halfheartedly dragged the purple crayon in lazy circles around the butterfly she'd drawn.

"Don't be silly, sweetie. It's not your fault you were being chased by a walker. It's not anyone's fault what they do...they're monsters." Jada didn't look so convinced, "A monster killed Dale, you didn't do anything wrong."

Jada wasn't so sure that was true. Just the fact that Beth was watching them all time made her think that she wasn't telling the truth. White lies her Mommy had called them, she was just trying to make her feel better. The walker never would've have chased them in the first place if they hadn't been playing with it. It sounded like her fault to her.

She didn't get a chance to say that though, because Carl came back. They hadn't talked about what happened that night, they hadn't talked about Dale, they hadn't really talked at all. She missed him. She didn't exactly have a lot of options, but Carl was her best friend, and she really wished he would play with her. This was just like when Shane left all over again.

He still wouldn't color, and he wouldn't play anything else, even though Beth asked him if he wanted to. Eventually she gave up and just left him alone, Jada did the same. If he wanted to be lame, he could be lame. She was just fine on her own too. Renee and Daryl would be back soon, and then they'd all have pie. Tomorrow Renee said she had a surprise for her.

Maybe Renee wasn't mad at her, but she hadn't been talking to her as much either. Jada had asked Beth about it yesterday, she'd said Renee was preoccupied. Jada thought it was something else, a word her Dad had used more than a few times: disappointed. For some reason that always felt worse than angry.

A gunshot echoed loud and clear, and three heads turned towards the window. Outside people were yelling and running, and Glenn was handing out a bag of guns. Beth's mouth tightened.

"Stay here." Beth closed the door behind her, and footsteps rushed down the stairs. Jada's eyes met Carl's as the door slammed. In seconds she was up on the bed with him, peering out the window, pressing her face to the glass trying to get a better look.

"C'mon," Carl said, grabbing her shoulder, "Let's go." She didn't look at him, still trying to see what was happening. She could see Beth running down the driveway, everyone else was gone too. "C'mon!" Carl insisted, pulling again. She ignored him a bit longer, he hadn't paid any attention to her for days, he could wait a minute. "Jada!"

"What?" She glared at him.

"Let's go!" Carl pulled at her again.

"Where?" Jada asked, there was no way the adults were going to let them watch whatever they were doing. She figured whatever had them going for their guns was a no kid zone. She didn't really like the idea of going anywhere anyways, not without telling anyone, or bringing Beth...she had a feeling that Renee would be disappointed. The last time she'd done something disappointing, Dale died.

"Beth's gone, we can actually go have fun." Carl said, going for the door, "Are you coming or not?"

Renee would be disappointed if she knew, but Carl would probably stop talking to her again if she didn't come. Renee still loved her even if she was disappointed. And just cause Beth wasn't watching, didn't mean something bad would happen. It didn't even mean Renee would have to know, Carl wouldn't tell.

"We'd have to get past them to go to the barn." She said as they rushed down the stairs, and towards the back door.

"We aren't going to the barn." Carl opened and closed the door as quietly as possible, "We're going to the shed."

* * *

><p>"We're really gonna hang the kid?" Daryl asked, running rope off the spool. They didn't have any thick enough at the farm, didn't want it to snap when they dropped him. He didn't give a shit about what happened to the kid, but hanging? He frowned, tugging another length of rope. Felt a little bit too much like one of those old westerns he and Merle used to watch when they were kids. Like they were trying too hard to play judge and jury. Didn't feel real.<p>

"That's what Rick said." Renee stood next to him, bow in hand and arrow ready to be drawn, just in case. There could be walkers in here, or worse.

"Seems like a waste of fuckin' time to me. Just put a bullet in his head and get it over with." Daryl finally dropped the rope and drew his knife, sawing through the strands with the serrated edge.

"Doesn't matter, as long as he's...as long as he can't hurt the group." Renee frowned, and he bit his lip, looking at her. She'd been getting better, sleeping better, eating better. It wasn't perfect or anything, but she was healing. Then Dale died, and here they were again. She looked paler than normal, there were rings under her eyes, something bitter in her expression when she was lost in thought.

She was grieving. She and Dale had been close, it would take her a few days, but she'd get back to normal. The rope finally cut loose from the rest of the spool, and he started coiling it up.

If you asked him, Rick wasn't going to go through with it. If he'd really wanted to kill that boy, he would'nt have been stalling for so long. First he was honoring Dale's memory, then they didn't have rope... He didn't particularly care what they did with him, but he wished it would've been fast. The longer they kept him around, the more time there was for something to be fucked up.

He didn't want to lose her.

"So, we're doing presents tomorrow?" He asked, changing the topic, maybe get her mind on something else.

"Yeah," Renee's voice softened, that bitter tone seeping out, "I thought it could just be the three of us, take a truck up the field in the morning. Maybe bring some food for breakfast, some blankets, give her her present then - it'll be a little picnic. I already put the gift in the Tahoe - she's been spending so much time in Beth's room recently, I figured it wouldn't be a good hiding place anymore." He stood, looping the rope over his shoulder, "We all set?" she asked.

He shook his head, "I was thinking we could stop by the knives."

"You need a new one?"

"Nah, thought we could pick one out for Jada." He was expecting the frown that crossed her lips. She'd been dead set against Jada having to learn to fight, he knew that...but still.

"Daryl...I don't think-" She started, and he cut her off.

"Girl needs to be able to protect herself."

"She's six!" Renee argued, and then corrected herself, "Seven."

"Yeah, and she'll still be seven next time a walker comes at her," he said, walking off towards the counter he'd seen a weapons display under, "And she'll be dead after that if you don't let her learn."

"Daryl!" She snapped, sounding more than a bit pissed. Probably had a right to be, maybe he was stepping close to a line. Maybe, that last comment went over it. He knew he needed to though, cause no one else was going to. Still, the girl had to learn. He didn't want to see her dead, and he didn't want to see Renee go through losing her either. "She's a kid!"

"Yeah, and she's alive, for now. What if Dale hadn't been there the other night? Who do you think that walker would have gotten to first? Her? Carl?" They were at the counter now, "She's gotta learn."

She was quiet for a while as he scanned over the knives. Didn't want anything too big, girl was built like a leaf.

"Pink one," She said, and he blinked, looking at her, "The pink one on the bottom shelf, she'd like that one."

"Alright." He nodded, and vaulted the counter, poking through drawers for keys to the glass case. She followed behind, doing the same. After five minutes of searching, he came to the conclusion that the keys probably wandered off with a dead man, "Fuck it," he muttered, pulling the crossbow off his back, and shoving the stock through the glass.

His fingers had just closed around the knife when he froze, "Did'ya hear that?" The voice came from just outside the little downtown hardware store.

"C'mon, let's go check it out." A second voice responded, and he glanced at Renee, her eyes were wide as she watched the shadows of two men reaching for the glass door.

"Probably just a walker tripping over shit." The bells chimed as he shoved the knife into his pocket, and dragged her past the counter, and into the aisles.

"C'mon, gotta be sure," The first man reasoned, "Gov's already pissed, lost six men that night, can't let nothing slip now or it's gonna be our asses on a plate."

It was them, the group from before. He ground his teeth together, every muscle stiff as he peered through gaps in the shelves, watching their legs. They were getting closer. He grabbed Renee by the arm, getting her attention.

'Door', he mouthed, nodding towards the front. There had to be a back way, but the store wasn't big, and they didn't have a lot of time before those men found them. He needed to get her out of there. She shook her head, pointing towards the men that stood firmly between where they were and where they needed to be. 'Go,' he mouthed, pushing her towards the edge of the store. Get her to sneak around them.

She nodded, slowly making her way around, crouched so they wouldn't see her bright red hair over the tops of the shelves. She glanced back for a second, he wasn't following, 'Go', he waved her off again, and she frowned. He needed to make sure she got out.

Once she was moving, he slunk around back towards the counter, and grabbed the first thing he could. The measuring tape only stayed in his hand for a moment as he chucked it hard towards the back of the store. The metal clanged loudly into the shelves, and a few packets of screws fell to the floor.

"Martinez," the first man said, "Ya hear that?" It was very quiet after that, as he tried to turn to go back for the door. Back for Renee. But then he saw the boots a few feet away, and he stopped. Stopped moving, stopped breathing, he just had to wait for - Renee shrieked, and his heart stopped too. "Hey Martinez! Look what I got."

"It's a girl." Martinez deadpanned, Daryl growled as he listened to Renee struggle.

"Nah man, it's that bitch that put her knife in Darren, look." The man let out a harsh laugh, "Gov's gonna have some fun you sweetie -"

Daryl was up in seconds. With a roar he slammed the stock of his bow into Martinez's head, and he crumpled to floor. The other he didn't even have to think about, just squeezed his trigger finger, and watched as the man fell, an arrow in his temple. It was him or her, and Daryl would choose her any day of the fucking week.

Dark red blood had dripped into her bright red hair, as she pulled herself free from the dead man's grasp. She was breathing heavily, and there was something in her gaze that he couldn't quite name, and he wouldn't call it gratitude, but it didn't seem like fear.

He rushed across the store, and grabbed her hand in his, the other going to her arm as he pulled her up, "Renee?" He breathed out, looking her up and down. He just needed to make sure she was still whole.

"I'm fine Daryl." He watched her eyes, but she didn't seem to be lying, "Are you-" she spared a glance at the dead man on the floor.

He nodded, "I'd do it again." That seemed to be all the assurance she needed at the moment. They didn't have a lot of time.

He pulled his arrow out of the skull, not really looking at whose skull it was, and headed for the door. The men hadn't brought their buddies, they were alone. He wasn't going to wait around to see if that would be true much longer. The rope was left behind as he half dragged her to the bike, even though she wasn't exactly protesting. He waited just long enough to feel her arms around him before he sped off down the road. He wasn't taking anymore chances, not with her.

* * *

><p>"Just grab the window sill and pull," Carl grunted, straining under her weight, "Yourself up." He'd set his sheriff's hat off to the side so that she wouldn't crush it while standing on his shoulders.<p>

"I don't want to go first," Jada whined, and Carl shifted, struggling to keep her up.

"Well you're too short to reach the window by yourself, so too bad!" Carl threw in an extra burst of effort, and boosted her up a bit more. With nervous hands she gripped the knotted and weathered wood, and pushed herself up with all her might. She huffed and puffed, and kicked at the walls as she got her belly over the edge, and then the rest of her. Maybe she'd kicked a bit too hard, cause she tumbled over, and plopped down into the hay on the other side.

The boy who watched her with a surprised expression couldn't have been any older than Beth. The kind of big kid who was only a kid by definition.

"Hey," he said, with a very big smile on his puffed up lips, "What'cha doing?" She wasn't sure how to respond to that, she felt like 'looking at you' was a weird answer. She wasn't supposed to be in here anyways, or talking to him. The shed was off limits, and so was the boy, Randall. She'd heard the adults call him Randall. They called him prisoner too.

Prisoners were supposed to be bad. He didn't look bad though, he looked like a kid. Like her older brothers, just pale, and kind of pimply. She used to laugh at her brother, Michael, back when he first started getting zits. Her Mommy had said it wasn't nice, but she did it anyways. She felt like she probably shouldn't laugh at Randall's zits though.

She glanced back up at the window above her, really hoping she'd see Carl's fingers creeping over the sill. Nothing.

"What's your name?" He asked.

She waited a moment before she answered him, "Jada." Where was Carl? She wasn't tall enough to sneak out on her own, and the door was locked from the outside.

"That's a pretty name." He sure did smile a lot, "I'm Randall."

"I know."

"Do you know why your family is keeping me here?" He asked, "Your Daddy, what was his name? T-Dog?"

"T-Dog's not my Daddy. I don't have one anymore...I have Renee, and she has Daryl, so I guess I kinda have him too." She said, she didn't answer the bit about why they were keeping him. She wouldn't know how, they didn't really talk about this kind of stuff around her and Carl.

"Renee? Which one was she?" Randall asked, candy sweet, he didn't seem so bad. She didn't like the way his smile looked, but maybe that was because his lips were all busted up. Why were they keeping him anyways? Seemed like a lot of trouble for a pimply teenager.

"She's the girl with the red hair, and Daryl has wings." His smile faltered when she mentioned Daryl's wings, which was odd, she liked Daryl's wings. They looked cool. "Have you met them?"

"I didn't meet, Renee, but I met Daryl." He kept on smiling, there was a thick scab on the corner of his mouth. She kind of wanted to pick at it, she stayed put though. "We talked for a long time."

"You did?" Jada asked, though she didn't particularly care. She looked for Carl's fingers again, she could hear him jumping against the wall, he must've been shorter than he thought he was. Typical.

"Yeah, he was a real nice guy." That was kind of odd too, Daryl wasn't all that nice to anyone. Sometimes he was even kind of grumpy with Renee, and he and Renee were pretty much best friends. She was starting to think Glenn must've stolen Daryl's vest, that or Randall was a liar, and she was pretty sure Daryl would've killed Glenn for taking his wings.

Finally she heard a grunt, and Carl appeared in the window.

"Hey, nice hat!" Randall grinned as Carl lowered himself to the ground, "Is it your dad's? The Sheriff right? Rick? He's a good man your dad." Well he wasn't lying about that part, Daryl wasn't exactly nice, not to strangers at least, but Rick was a good guy. "You know, I don't know why they've been keeping me here so long...They were supposed to let me go a few days ago. Do you know what happened?"

She hadn't known they were going to let him go, but that didn't surprise her. She didn't know a lot of things. Carl didn't say anything. Randall looked like he was going to try again when another gun shot went off in the distance. Suddenly his eyes got all wide.

"Oh no! I bet that's my group!" He said, trying to jump up, but he was forced back down by the cuffs, "Look! If you let me go, I can go out there, I can talk to them. Please, I don't want anyone else to get hurt." Randall pleaded, she bit her lip, looking at Carl. She didn't want anyone to die, they'd already lost Dale, and that had been their fault. What if they could do something to save the others? Would it be their fault if they didn't? "Please, they're just looking for me. Help me get out! I like you guys, I don't want you to hurt. Let me talk to them, and I promise they'll go away!"

"Okay." Jada was the one who spoke up. What if Glenn was killed? What if Renee and Daryl came back, they wouldn't even know what was happening. They could drive right up, and there would be a loud, loud bang, and she'd be all alone again. Carl glanced at her, like he was unsure, but he didn't say anything. "What do we do?"

"Over on the shelf." Randall nodded towards the back wall, "That little metal pot, the keys to the cuffs are in there." Carl was the one to go grab them, apparently he was just as worried about his family as she was. There were three more gun shots. "Hurry!" Randall said, and Carl ran back, kneeling to unlock the cuffs. They each came undone with a click.

The older boy rushed to open the door, it banged and slammed, but it stayed closed. Locked from the outside. Randall didn't say another word to them, just rushed to the window they'd climbed through, and practically jumped out. The two kids followed, Carl boosting her up first, dashing out into the yard behind Randall, they watched him go.

Except he wasn't going towards the group, or the guns, or anywhere he should've been. As they watched Randall dash for the woods another shot rang out, and she turned to see a walker fall under T-Dog's gun. It suddenly occurred to her that if Randall had lied about Daryl, he had probably lied about himself too.

There were ten or twenty walkers straining into the fence, a few of them had already broken through, and more bodies were littering the ground. No people though, the only gun shots were coming from her group. Randall was almost to the woods.

"Hey!" Glenn called, "Hey, he's getting away!"

"Shit!" She heard Rick yell, and a pit opened up in her stomach. They hadn't seen them yet, hadn't seen why he was free. They were angry, and pretty soon they'd be angry at her.

She grabbed Carl by the sleeve and pulled, "C'mon! We have to go!" They needed to hide.

* * *

><p>Renee frowned when she saw the broken fence, the rotted corpses scattered about. She didn't recognize any of the bodies, but she didn't see anyone alive either. What the hell had happened? Where was Jada? Her mouth felt dry and she had this horrible urge to bite something. She just wanted Daryl to go faster, get them up to the house.<p>

The bike rolled to a stop in front of the porch, and she lept off. Lori pushed the door open, and the look in her eyes made Renee's stomach drop. The bike's engine cut, and she heard Daryl's footsteps behind her.

"Randall escaped," Lori said, voice wavering as it struggled to leave her chest. He was gone? Renee tried her hardest to take a deep breath. Daryl had had to kill one of them today, if they couldn't track down Randall...oh god, they had to get out of there. It didn't matter how many guns they had back in the house, they were going to be outmanned. She had to start packing, they had to get everything in the trucks, and they needed to leave. "We…" Lori's voice shook, and Beth stepped out on the porch. It was rare that that girl didn't have a smile on her face.

"Renee I'm so sorry," Beth said, she was having a hard time meeting anyone's eye, "We can't find the kids."

"What?" Renee's voice was very quiet, "What do you mean you can't find the kids?"

"There was a breach in the fence. I - I told them to stay in my room-" Beth started, but Renee had stopped listening.

"Oh my god...we have to find them." She pushed past Daryl, yanking her bow off the bike, and stalking back towards the porch, "We'll track them down, and then...and then I'm going to kill them!"

"We've looked everywhere on the farm...if they're not here…" Lori sounded like she was about to start crying.

"Okay, then they're in the woods." Renee's voice was verging on hysterical, "We can't leave without them. We have to -" She broke off, suddenly turning on Lori, "Are you sure? Are you sure you've checked everywhere? Where's everyone else, are they out looking -"

"Randall, they're looking for Randall." Lori said. If they found Randall, then they could just start looking for the kids. No threat of another group raining bullets down on their heads. Maybe if the kids were out in the woods the group would find them...or maybe Randall would...or something else.

"The barn?" Renee asked, her tone getting rougher. She couldn't stay still, shifting this way and that, pacing and twisting, "The barn, did you look in the barn?"

Lori nodded. Beth spoke up, "We looked everywhere. The chickens, the stable, we've been around the farm three or four times now."

"If they're here they don't want to be found." Lori leaned into the railing, knuckles turning white.

"Fuck!" Renee snapped suddenly, all that fear and frustration bubbling to the surface as she spun back towards Daryl, "Check again!" She called to Lori and Beth, "We're going to look around the woods."

Jada knew damn well she was supposed to listen to Beth. Jada knew damn well she shouldn't have been running around when there were walkers on the farm. Jada knew damn well she shouldn't be playing hide and seek when the world was over. Not without telling anyone first, cause it wasn't a damn game.

She'd been upset when Dale died, yes, but she hadn't been angry. Jada was young, she had made a mistake, and everyone could tell she felt awful about it. Now though, now… Renee was absolutely livid. Each step was harder than it needed to be, taking everything out on the ground, because she didn't have time for anything else. Coming around back of the house she made a beeline for the trees.

"Renee!" Daryl called, and she ignored him. She needed to find Jada. "Renee!" He yelled, and this time she turned, "C'mere!" She headed back, eyes going to the ground. She had to squint to see, she shouldn't have gotten up so damn late. It was going to get dark soon, and the light was already fading. She could make them out though, two little sets of footprints walking away from the back porch. "They went this way." Daryl took the lead, carefully following the little trail off towards the yard.

Not just the yard, the shed. Two sets of footprints stopped at the window, mud streaked up the wall. Two sets of little footprints, and one set of big ones ran away in opposite directions. They'd freed him. The kids were the reason Randall had escaped. Her face twisted into a scowl as she got the uncontrollable urge to punch something. Daryl knew too, looking at the three sets of footprints, he'd figured out what the kids had done.

Jada was young, sure, but Renee was having a hard time believing how incredibly stupid she'd been.

"Renee…" Daryl was watching her with that concerned look he'd had ever since she'd killed that man...Darren, his name was Darren, "You doin' okay?"

She couldn't help but laugh, "Yes, Daryl, I'm perfectly fine." The sarcasm bit through her words as she glared.

"Red." A bit of growling tone worked its way into his voice too.

"No! No, I'm not okay!" She snapped, "But that doesn't fucking matter right now! What matters is finding those kids, so stop giving me those fucking puppy dog eyes, and stop wasting light!" She spun about, but he grabbed her by the hand, and pulled her back.

She struggled and he pulled her closer, holding her firmly to him, until she'd meet his eyes, "Hey, hey, hey." He said, there was a tension in his voice, though he was holding it together better than she was, "You need to calm down, alright? Ain't doin' yaself or Jada any favors stompin' round like ya gonna kill someone, ya hear?"

The words 'calm down' made the fire in her belly rise into her chest, and really she wanted to hit him right then, but she took a deep breath instead. He was right, she knew he was. She needed to just take a breath, get her head on straight. She took in more air, a long and shaky breath, and let her head drop to Daryl's shoulder.

In and out, in and out. His hand ran up and down her back, up and down. Deep breaths, she told herself, deep breaths. If she wanted to find Jada she needed to calm down. This wasn't about her, she could be mad later. They just needed to find Jada before Randall found his group, before they found the farm.

She looked back up at Daryl, and bright blue eyes met hers. There was that damn look again. Deep breath. He pressed a kiss to her lips, soft but firm, and she kissed back, leaning into him. She could feel the knot in her chest loosen, just the tiniest bit, as she broke the kiss. She didn't move away though, just breathed in and out, letting her forehead rest against his.

"We're gonna find her, alright?" He reassured her, and she nodded as he straightened, and pushed a loose piece of hair out of her face. They were going to find her. Voices made them both snap their eyes towards the trees, Rick, Glenn, and T-Dog were coming up out of the woods. No Randall, though that didn't necessarily mean they hadn't found him.

"Did Lori tell you?" Rick asked, looking weary. Renee nodded.

"Any sign of them?" Daryl asked.

Rick shook his head, "Can't find the kids anywhere - you figured out what they…" he nodded towards the footprints, they'd all had a small lesson in tracking when Sophia died. The footprints weren't exactly hard to follow.

"Did you track -" Renee started.

"They went into the woods for a while, musta double back, at some point, but hard to tell...trail's gone." Rick said.

"Randall's trail went cold too." Glenn added.

"Me and Daryl can go!" Renee jumped forward, "Different set of eyes-"

Rick held his hands up, "Not yet. It's dark, and I don't know how close Randall's group is."

"Close," Daryl said, gruffly, "Ran into a couple of them in town."

"Are you-" Glenn started to ask.

"Fine." Daryl cut him off, "Those kids are still out there-"

Rick shook his head, "They were heading back towards the farm. Wherever they are, they're close. If we haven't found them, its cause they don't want us too. We get everything into the truck, we get ready to run if we have to, then we get the kids and...wait."

"What if they find us before we find Jada and Carl?" Renee asked, "We can't just leave them behind!" She felt that panic starting to creep up again, and Daryl glanced down at her.

"We aren't going to leave them," Rick said firmly, sometimes she needed to remember she wasn't the only parent. He was just as scared as she was, "We just need to get everything in order, get organized - Jimmy and Hershel are still out looking for the kids."

"Beth and Lori are too," Renee said, letting out a breath.

"Let's just go back, get the essentials in the truck, get some guns," Rick said, heading back up to the porch, "We're going to find them, Renee. I can promise you that."

* * *

><p>Half an hour later food and water had been thrown into the civic; tents and sleeping bags into the Tahoe; extra weapons, clothes, everyone's personal bags, had been put in the back of the F-150. Between the group's and Hershel's vehicles they had more than enough room for everyone. Now they just needed to go find the kids.<p>

She thought that once Jada and Carl had been found that they needed to leave, they could yell at them later. No wasting time. Others thought differently. Rick was hesitant to leave unless they had to. She understood why, Lori was already getting bigger. Hershel was dead set against leaving, period. He and Jimmy had gotten back a few minutes ago. Lori and Beth were still out.

"Here." Daryl came up next to her, holding a semi-automatic, something they'd picked up at that weapons store a while back, "Just in case."

"I don't know how to use this." She turned the gun over in her hands, it was heavier than her pistol, but not by too much. Her pistol was metal, this was some sort of plastic.

"Safety," he pointed out, "Cock it here," then he took it from her hands, and pointed it off into the trees, "Hold it like this, braced against your shoulder. You know how to aim." He handed it back, and she nodded, raising the gun. "You'll be fine for now...careful of the kickback, it's a bitch on that model."

She laughed humorlessly, "Thanks."

The sun was almost completely down now, leaving them in dusky purple light. It was getting chilly, she wondered if Jada was wearing her jacket. She knew she needed to be calm, and she wasn't panicking, but this horrible nervous tension filled her from head to toe. Everything was stiff, her stomach roiled and threatened to rise into an incredibly dry throat. She felt like she needed to be doing something right now. She needed to be looking for Jada.

Rick had wanted them to meet up first, make a plan, figure out who was going where. She just wanted to go, get her little girl, and get her out of there. She wasn't losing anyone else, not if she could help it.

"Lori and Beth are comin'." He nodded down the drive, and for some stupid reason, she was hoping she'd see too little forms coming up behind them. There weren't. She was fighting not to grind her teeth. Daryl's hand was warm against her arm as he gently pulled her towards the house, "C'mon. We'll go find them in a minute."

Everyone was waiting in the living room. Patricia was pulling out flashlights from the closet. The door closed as Lori and Beth filtered in, and Rick met his wife's eyes. It had been a rough couple of days. Her hand found Daryl's, and he squeezed it reassuringly, they'd find her.

"Alright," Rick stood, "They went into the woods a ways, Daryl and Renee, why don't you two try to follow them that way. See if you can make anything of that trail." They nodded, "Glenn, T-Dog." They stood, "Take some guns and a truck, start driving around the property, stop at all the out buildings and-"

Glass shattered, and the back wall was painted red. Some people ducked, some people screamed, some people did both as they hit the floor. T-Dog hit the floor too, but he wasn't screaming, he had a hole in his chest big enough to take his breath away for good.

The gunfire sounded far off, back towards the woods. T-Dog had died cause someone got lucky, probably weren't even aiming for him, but the roar was getting closer. Crescendoing as more and more guns added their voice, stalking closer and closer to the farm. Another pane shattered, and she heard the bullet thunk into the wall behind them. Daryl was crouched over her, one hand still in hers, they other cupped around her side.

"C'mon," he grunted, pulling her towards the hall, away from the windows. Another window collapsed completely as a round of bullets turned the glass to shards, they were getting closer. She winced as her knee dragged through the broken glass, doing her best to stay low. Glenn popped up behind the couch long enough to return a volley of fire, it was too dark outside to see. If they wanted to fight back, if they wanted to run, they were going to have step blindly into a warzone.

"Jada," Renee hissed, "We have to find Jada!"

Daryl didn't make any promises this time.

**Well, there was chapter twenty six. I hope you all liked it! So sorry it took so long to get this out, I have a few more colleges to apply to over the next couple of days, and homework to do, so the next chapter won't come out right away. I'll try to get it out as soon as I can though! I hope to hear back from you guys! **

**See ya soon! **


	27. Deep Breaths

**Alrighty, we've made it through season two, this is the last chapter before we start season three. I'll probably have a few buffer chapters between seasons, but this is last official season two chapter. I hope you all enjoy, and I hope to hear back from you! **

**Thanks to everyone who has followed and favorited this story. Special thanks to my-forgotten-rose, sillygabby, and redangel2463 for the reviews! **

**Chapter 27 - Deep Breaths**

Daryl Dixon had grown up around guns. Gotten his first one at six, Merle taught him how to use it. Three days later he was shooting squirrels off the fence. Hell, he could tell you if someone was firing a pistol or shotgun by sound alone. There was a gun over the mantel of the little house he'd grown up in, there'd been a gun under the bed of the trailer they'd lived in after the house burned down, there'd been a gun in his Old Man's waistband just about all the time.

He'd only ever been scared of a gun twice in his life. Once when he was sixteen, and a very drunk Will Dixon had shoved the cold muzzle of his Beretta under Daryl's chin - that was the last time Daryl ever saw his father, said fuck it and moved in with Merle the next day. And once when Merle pissed off one of his dealer buddies enough that Daryl ended up with a pistol to his head.

Right now though. Right now would make number three. There was no way in hell he was going to say it, but crouched in that dark hallway, listening to the guns blare outside. Yeah, he was scared shitless. It wasn't that he was scared of dying, sure he didn't really want to, but that wasn't the big issue. He was scared of losing her. Scared of a bullet finding her, scared that if he was going to die, he'd have to watch her go first.

Right now he was remembering exactly why he'd been so worried about that girl getting a hold of him like this. If you didn't love someone you couldn't lose them. He shook his head, the longer he spent fretting over her dying, the more likely it was that she would.

"Daryl." Her hand closed over his arm, "Daryl, are you listening to me?" Her whisper was something ferocious, there was a light shining her eyes, and he knew the adrenaline was rushing through her veins. He frowned. She didn't think when she was scared, she turned into Rambo. Except this wasn't the movies, and Rambo was going to get her killed if she pulled something.

"Daryl," she hissed, "Daryl we need to find Jada."

He didn't say anything, not because he didn't have words; but because he did, and he knew she wouldn't like them. She met his eyes, and something went all cold in hers. She knew damn well why he wasn't answering. He hardly had time to grab her as she lunged for the door, one hand grabbing her shoulder, the other her hip as he forced her back to the ground and pinned her up against the wall.

"Don't you fucking dare." He growled in her ear, not loosening his hold on her as another round of bullets pierced the glass windows on the door. There wasn't a lot of light in the house, some candles laying around, but it was enough for the men outside to see them.

"We need to get the lights off!" Glenn breathed out heavily, dashing into the hall from the living room, and sliding down the wall, "Can't get up long enough to fight back."

"What the hell are we supposed to do?" Carol asked, words were straining through shallow breaths, "Crawl around blowing out candles? Hope they don't shoot?"

Glenn paused for a moment, "Yes."

"He's right," Rick pushed himself up to a crouch, pulling away from Lori's grip, "We get the lights out, and we've got a chance to get to the trucks."

"Carl." Lori looked about ready to panic too, "Carl, we aren't leaving without Carl."

"We won't." Rick reassured her. Daryl wasn't so sure he believed it. He didn't want to leave the kids. He liked Carl. Jada in a weird way was kind of like family to him now. But he didn't see how they were going to get them and get everyone else out too. Hell was raining out of the treeline, and they didn't even know where to start looking. "Let's just get the lights off," Rick said, "If they can't see us, maybe we can hold them off long enough to find the kids."

A few of the others started to go about the house, on hands and knees, blowing out candles one by one.

He put his fingers under Renee's chin and lifted her face to look at him, "You ain't gonna go for that door again, ya hear me?" She didn't respond, "You hear me?" He snarled out each word. He wouldn't lose her. He wouldn't let it happen. She nodded stiffly, glaring up at him. "Good." He got off of her, sitting back in a crouch. He'd let her go, but he was still watching her. Just in case.

She looked like she was about to say something, a pretty pissed something, when someone screamed, and another volley of bullets crashed through the living room.

"The hell?" He slid to the side, looking into the living room. Renee followed. His mouth went dry as he watched T-Dog rip Jimmy's throat to shreds. Beth was crying as Rick lunged forward, putting a bullet in T-Dog's head, and another in Jimmy's. A bite. There hadn't been a bite.

He met Renee's eyes, she looked just about as scared as he felt, just watching the blood pool, dark, dark red around Jimmy. How the hell had he turned?

"Get the lights!" Rick yelled, and more bullets rained down. No one hesitated, blowing out the last of the candles. Except Hershel.

"We ain't leaving." The old man, hadn't moved from the hallway.

"We can't stay!" Rick snapped.

"Daddy!" Beth pleaded, but the man's face was made of stone, "Daddy, please!" Her face was already streaked with tears, and her voice cracked as she sat there next to her boyfriend's body.

"Hershel, there isn't anything left. We get the kids, and we go." Rick said firmly.

"How are we going to get out?" Carol asked, "The trucks, they're all out front."

"I'll go," Glenn volunteered and Maggie quickly protested, but he hushed her, "I'm fast. I'll keep my head down, start pulling trucks around to the back."

Rick nodded, "Thank you."

"I'll go too," a voice piped up next to him.

"No." He said firmly, he knew exactly who she thought she'd see out there, and it wasn't going to happen. If anything, he at least hoped the girl was smart enough to stay hidden during a firefight. Though adrenaline can do wacky things to your head...he figured it would be even worse for Renee if Jada tried to make a run for it.

"Daryl," she warned, glaring at him.

He took a breath, "Fine, I'm goin' too."

"Alright," Glenn said looking over to them, "The Civic's the closest, it has all the food and water, we need to get to that first. Renee, you take that, me and Daryl will lay down cover fire. Then I'll cover Daryl while he gets the Tahoe, we're going to need those weapons too. I'll try to get to the Ford if I can, if not I'll meet everyone out back, alright?" Everyone nodded, and he turned addressing the group, "Don't go outside till you see Renee's headlights. With the food it should seat three more. Don't all rush out if there's no where to run, okay?" More heads bobbed up and down. "Alright, lets -"

"Glenn," Maggie interrupted him, "Can I talk to you a second." She glanced at the others, "Alone."

He hesitated, "Maggie…"

"Please." He gave in, following back towards the kitchen. Daryl and Renee went to wait by the door.

She looked nervous, twitchy. She had the right to be, they were about to invite open season on their heads. She had the closest car, she'd be okay. "Renee," he said softly, catching her attention. There were a lot of things he would've liked to say to her, but Glenn was coming back, so instead he just kissed her. The whole group was right there, but at the moment he didn't give a fuck. His hand cradled the back of her head as he moved his lips against hers, knowing damn well it might be the last time.

"Daryl," she breathed as they broke apart. For a second it looked like she wanted to say something too, but Glenn was there, and it was time to go. The door slid open, and the guns just got louder as one at a time they dashed out onto the porch, heads down.

Glenn got all the way to the Civic's trunk, kneeling behind it as he started firing off bullets. Daryl crouched by the porch railing, briefly watching Renee dash past him and to the Civic's passenger side. She would have to crawl through, too dangerous to go around. He brought his attention back to the task at hand, setting his sights on a moving shadow, and pulled the trigger. Five shots rang out, the shadow screamed, and the Civic purred to a start. She slammed the gas, and squealed around towards the back. He took out another shadow, covering Glenn till he found a new hiding spot.

Glenn safely crouched behind a tree, Daryl made a run for it, hissing and stumbling as a bullet hit his side. He couldn't tell how bad it was, but it wasn't bad enough to stop. He slammed into the Tahoe, raising his gun just long enough to pop a few rounds into some guy's shoulder, and climbed in.

He kept his head low as the truck roared around the house. Renee was going to be okay, for now. Now they just had to wait and see if Glenn made it back, and he damn well hoped he did. Daryl was starting to like the kid.

He slammed on the breaks, and Carol and Beth jumped in next to him. Patricia wasn't far behind when he noticed something was wrong just a moment too late. The walker sunk its teeth into her shoulder, and he fired off a round into its head as Beth screamed. They pulled the woman into the back seat, though he knew they'd just have to put a bullet in her head later, he didn't have time to argue. The F-150's lights were coming around the corner, and he glanced at the civic to see...Maggie in the front seat.

Where the hell was Renee? He looked up frantically, bullets were flying out past the house, and walkers were coming in, and there she was. Rambo running out into the middle of hell, Lori not far behind, and immediately he knew why.

"Carol! You're drivin'!" he yelled, grabbing his crossbow out of the passengers seat, "She turns," he handed Beth his handgun, "You know what to do with this?" The girl watched the gun with teary eyes, "Beth!" He snapped, he didn't have a lot of time.

Patricia's hand closed around it, "I'll do it myself before it comes to that." Her voice was shaking. All he had time to do was nod, before he leapt out the door, crossbow over his back, rifle in hand.

"Rick!" He yelled, nodding towards the two women. Lori was firing off rounds into walkers. Renee had her bow drawn. The hell did they think they were doing? Rick nodded when he saw it, practically lunging off the porch, and Daryl took off after him.

"Renee!" A little voice called over the roar of the guns and the moans of the walkers, and his heart dropped.

"Mom!" Another voice yelled.

"Carl! Carl, baby I'm here!" Lori called, putting down another walker.

"Carl!" Rick yelled.

Daryl could see the kids now, they were running up from the barn. Lord knows that damn barn had been checked over a hundred times, but here they were. Carl was in the lead, Jada close behind. "Mom!" The kid yelled, "Dad!"

"Renee!" Jada screamed. Carl had reached Lori and Rick, Renee was running for Jada. He could hear the trucks revving as the Grimes' ran for the cars and he rushed to catch Renee. The walkers were getting closer, and so were the guns, and then the bullets cut the earth and Renee stumbled back.

"Jada!" She yelled, but the girl had already taken off, spooked, running in the wrong direction, "Jada!" Renee's voice cracked over the scream, and she took off after her. Fuck. He kicked up the pace, watching the little girl sprint right into a dead woman's arms. He skidded to a stop, raised his gun and blew off the walker's skull. Jada hardly paused, just kept running for the tree line.

"Ja-" Renee's scream was cut short as bullets rang out, and she fell to the ground. No. Heart in his throat he slid to his knees next to her. She was breathing, her right leg was torn up bad, but she was breathing. The cars were taking off, Jada was long gone - the last he'd seen of her was a little shadow disappearing into the trees, more walkers than she could handle close behind.

"C'mon." He dragged her to her feet, she struggled and fought, trying to yank away.

"Let go!" She shrieked, "Jada! Jada!"

"She's gone, Renee!" She tried to pull away again, digging her nails into his arm. He hissed whipping her around, and she yelped as her bad leg twisted, "She's gone!" He yelled, "I'm not losing you too! Now let's go!" He half dragged half carried her, kicking and spitting, towards the bike. She got away once, just long enough for her leg to collapse underneath her. He caught her around the waist as a heart wrenching sob tore through her chest, and he pulled her onto the back of the bike.

The gunfire had started to calm now that the cars were disappearing down the drive. He revved the bike, trying not to feel her shaking and crying against him, and flew down the road after the others.

* * *

><p>She was gone. Jada was gone, they'd left her behind. There were all of those walkers. All of those walkers with their dead, reaching hands; and their stiff, hungry smiles. She'd promised, she'd promised her little girl that she'd never let her be one of those things. Never. She'd promised, but still she'd let Jada run off into the night with a whole herd after her. Now her only chance of dying human was if they...if they ripped…<p>

The tears started fresh again, and she choked out a sob into the freezing air. They hadn't stopped driving, and she didn't know where they were going. Even if she'd looked up, her vision was too blurry to see anything.

She'd left Jada behind. She'd been right there, her little girl had been right there. She'd almost had her arms around her, almost had her back in the car. Almost had her safe. They wouldn't have had a home anymore, but they would have been safe. Maybe if they had been really lucky, she could have gotten old on some new farm somewhere. She and Daryl could've lived to see Jada grow up.

She never would get to be a dancer, but Renee still wished she could have seen her put all that grace to use. Even if it was just killing the dead, Renee was sure the girl would have looked beautiful doing it. Maybe she would have had children. Renee shook her head, trying to push out useless thoughts.

She wasn't going to see grandchildren, she wasn't going to get old, and she wasn't going to see Jada again. Not alive anyways.

She could fufill a promise though.

The sun was just starting to rise. Daryl had moved the bike up to lead the caravan a while ago, he knew Georgia's back roads better than anyone. She lifted her head, and tugged on his arm. He didn't stop. She tugged again, and again, and again, and finally the bike slowed.

It hadn't even come to a full stop yet, when she lunged off the back seat. He cursed as her right leg buckled, a wave of pain shooting up from her calf to just about everywhere else. Warm hands helped her off the ground , and into a sitting position. She'd started crying again.

"She hurt?" Rick jumped down from the F-150, the cars coming to a halt behind them.

"It's her leg!" Daryl yelled back, and she heard Rick start calling for Hershel.

"We have to go back," she said, voice hoarse from crying, "We have to go back."

"Renee…" He started softly. She shook her head, trying to push herself back up to her feet. He pushed her back down, "Uh-uh, Sunshine, gotta stay off that leg."

"Daryl, let me up."

"No," He said more forcefully.

"Daryl, we have to go back!" She snapped, the rest of the group was starting to filter out of the cars. Hershel was coming up from the Civic. She was desperately trying to hold back the tears that were forcing their way to the surface. She didn't want everyone to see her cry.

"Renee, she's gone." He looked just as pained as she was, but he didn't understand. He wasn't the one who pulled that little girl out of Atlanta. He hadn't held her when she cried, or laughed with her as they screamed bad nineties pop in the back of an old yellow camaro. He never comforted her when she was scared, or whispered silly things to her in the dead of the night when she couldn't sleep, cause all she had was a ripped up bear named Franklin and a pair of pee stained shorts.

Jada wasn't his. He didn't understand. He wasn't the one who looked her in the eye, and made a promise. She was going to keep it, she had to keep it. She tried to push herself back up again, and he pushed her back down.

"Daryl!" Her voice cracked, "I have to go back."

"She's dead Renee!" His voice rose, hands holding her firmly in place.

"I know that!" She cried, "I know that! I know she's dead, but I can't leave her! I promised...I...I" She was trying to keep her lower lip stiff, as she shoved herself up fast, catching Daryl off guard. Her leg screamed when she put weight on it, but she ignored it, practically dragging it behind her as she limped towards the trucks. She'd grab her stuff, find another car if she had too. She made a promise.

She wouldn't meet anyone's eye as she flung the door to the F-150 open, even though she could feel Glenn and the rest of the Grimes' staring at her. She was about to grab her bag when Daryl pulled her back, and slammed the door.

"You ain't goin anywhere, Red," he snarled, not letting her go.

"You don't get to tell me that," she snarled right back, ripping herself from his grip, and starting to limp away. "You know, maybe, if you hadn't been telling me what was best all day, I could have found Jada! Maybe she wouldn't be dead!" She snapped.

"Renee." His voice softened, and he looked like he was trying to find words, "Renee, I -"

"She's my kid, Daryl!" Her voice was rising, "Give me one good reason, why you thought you had the right to hold me back!"

"Renee-" He started, but she interrupted.

"Give me one good reason, Daryl - Cause I -"

"I love you, Renee!" He yelled, and everything got very quiet. Tears were streaming down her face, and she was fighting back those deep, hiccuping sobs, and she could feel a lot of eyes on her. The blue ones right in front of her though, those were going straight through her as his chest heaved with a ragged breath, "Cause I fucking love you, and I couldn't just sit there and watch you kill yourself over a dead girl!"

She was struggling to keep her breaths steady, his eyes intent on hers, searching. She couldn't even get the air to go out right, much less words.

"Daryl," Hershel had come behind him, watching them with a sad gaze, "I think it's time I take a look at her leg." Daryl didn't take his eyes off of hers, blue fire burning as his chest rose and fell with each heavy breath. "Daryl, your side is bleeding. Why don't you go find Patricia-"

"Patricia was bit." She heard Beth say somewhere to the side.

"I'm still okay," the older woman said, though her voice sounded strained as she lowered herself from the Tahoe, "I can still do it."

"Daryl -" Hershel started again, and Daryl growled, snapping back from her and stalking off. The sobs broke through her chest again, and she slid down to the ground. She heard something bang, and she briefly wondered what Daryl was taking out his anger on. She hadn't seen that light in his eyes for a while, not since the CDC.

The old man knelt next to her, hands gently prodding her torn up leg, "Got you pretty good didn't they?" He said, and she weakly nodded, pushing down another sob. "I'm sorry," Hershel went on, "About your girl." At this point, she didn't think he expected a response. "Beth! Grab me medical kit, its in the Tahoe."

She leaned her head back against the F-150 door. She had too much to think about right now, and not much of it was good, so she decided she just wouldn't. She needed a moment to breath, get her head on straight, in and out.

Daryl was right, she knew that. They'd been driving almost all night, even if she got back there, the chances that Jada's walker was still around were slim. She'd been running for the woods, who knew how far she'd made it before they'd gotten her. All Renee could do right now was hope that someone else put a bullet in her head for her.

A sob tugged at her throat, and she shoved it down. Deep breaths. In and out.

Beth helped her out of her jeans, and she hissed as the alcohol was poured over her leg. Maybe it was a good thing she'd been crying so much, there weren't any tears left now. She just closed her eyes, and Beth held her hand as Hershel cut away the torn pieces of flesh, the ones not worth saving. The girl didn't let go once as the needle spun in and out, closing up the gaping wound in her calf.

"We'll need to find you crutches," Hershel said in his doctor voice, "Or a cane, until you've healed some." He took a deep breath, "It's hard to say right now...if you give it enough rest now, start exercising right...you should regain some normal movement. Shotgun shell got you, tore up the muscles down there...you're lucky, a few more inches to left and your tibia would have been shattered, might've had to amputate."

"But I won't walk right again will I?" She felt really tired all of a sudden.

Hershel shook his head, "No. You're going to have a limp, if we give the leg time to heal you'll still be able to walk but…it's hard to tell what kind of damage was done to the nerves, we're just going to have to wait and see, I'm sorry Renee."

"It's fine." Renee didn't really meet his eye, just held Beth's hand a little tighter, "Daryl...you said he was bleeding."

Hershel craned his neck back, frowning as he looked down the caravan, "Looks like it was just a graze, Patricia's stitching him up."

"I'm sorry," Renee said, "I know how close you guys are to her."

"And I'm sorry about Jada." Hershel said, "Do you want me to send Daryl over when he's done?" He asked.

"No I...I just want to be alone for a bit," Renee said, and Hershel nodded, standing. Beth rose with him, and left her alone.

Deep breaths.

* * *

><p>She wanted Renee. More than anything she wanted Renee. Jada had stopped running a long time ago, but her chest still hurt from breathing too hard. It was cold, and it was dark, and the tears had stopped coming a long time ago, but she still felt like crying.<p>

She'd run for a long time, a very, very long time. She'd run through the dark, and the woods. She'd run until she fell, and then she kept running until she couldn't hear the walkers moaning behind her.

Now things were starting to get lighter, and she figured the sun would come up soon, but that didn't make things any warmer. It didn't make her any less hungry either, she'd missed dinner last night, hiding in the hay with Carl. They'd spent weeks building their hay fort, whenever they were alone in the barn they were moving hay, making their own little castle in the loft. They'd stayed there for hours, listening to the adults yell.

Except then the adults stopped yelling, and the guns started. She'd been scared she'd never see her family again, so she ran, and Carl ran too. She'd ran all the way to Renee, and now she was pretty sure that was the last time she'd ever see her.

People didn't come back anymore, not in a good way. Her Mommy hadn't, her Dad, her brothers and sisters. Renee wouldn't either.

She wanted to start crying again.

She couldn't though, cause she was seven now. Seven wasn't as big as Carl, but it was big enough. She didn't have anyone to cry to anymore now, so all it would be was a waste of noise. She had to be quiet, Renee always told her that when you're in the woods you have to be quiet. If you're loud the deer will hear and they'll run, if you're loud the walkers will hear and you'll die.

So she didn't cry. Instead she just sat there, nestled in the roots of a big old tree, and waited for the sun to come up. She'd catch her breath and then...and then, well, she didn't know what she'd do then.

Something rustled, and she froze. She had to be very quiet in the woods. It didn't just sound like footsteps though, it sounded like metal. Clink, clink, clink. She tried very hard not to breath. Clink, clink, clink. Eyes open, she had to keep her eyes open. If she couldn't see she wouldn't know what to run from.

Slowly, slowly, she peeked around the tree. Walkers, three of them. No. That one wasn't a walker. Jada watched the woman uneasily, she was leading monsters like her Mommy used to lead their dog. She jerked the chains, and the walkers followed after her. They looked different, they didn't have arms or mouths. They could still moan a bit though. She didn't like that sound.

She didn't like the looks of a person who could lead monsters either.

The woman stopped, only a few feet away, and the chains clinked, clinked, clinked, as she tied her walkers to a tree. She wasn't going to leave. Jada had to be very quiet, but her chest still hurt, and her breaths were fighting to come out hard. Her heart was beating faster, and that needed to be quiet too. Except she focused a bit too hard on that and took in a deep, gasping breath.

The woman looked up. She was black, like Jada, with long dreads. She looked dirty and grimy, but she looked pretty. Prettier than Jada expected someone who walked with walkers to be. The woman's eyes softened, and she stood.

"Hey," the woman said. Jada stiffened, "Hey, hey, I won't hurt you." She stepped a little closer, "What's your name." Jada just watched her, she took another step, "My name's Michonne," she said as she crouched down next to her, "I'm not going to hurt you okay? I promise." Jada had figured out a while ago that promises didn't really mean a lot. "Pinky promise?" Michonne tried again, tentatively holding out her little finger.

Jada took it in hers, watching the woman carefully as she shook it, "No crossed fingers?"

Michonne smiled, raising her other hand, "No crossed fingers."

Her stomach growled.

"I've got some food...do you want some?" Michonne asked. She looked friendly, but so had Randall. Her stomach grumbled again, and she nodded, taking Michonne's outstretched hand.

* * *

><p>The sun was finally over the horizon, still orange in a red sky. Maybe it would rain later. Everyone else was asleep, Rick was standing watch. They'd all been too tired to drive, but she wasn't going to sleep anyways. Not now...not with everything.<p>

Hershel had told her to stay off of her leg, but she'd gotten restless. Her bow had been taken from her earlier, placed in the back of the Tahoe. She wanted to clean it, do something productive...she couldn't just sit here anymore. So, with a suppressed groan, she gripped the F-150, and pulled herself to her feet.

The left leg bared the weight as she pulled herself along. She could hardly walk, and she'd failed at the most important job she'd ever had in this damn hell of a world, but she wasn't just going to sit and be a bump on a log either. She was pretty sure Daryl was mad at her...he loved her...but he was mad. She'd talk to him later, when they'd both gotten their heads back on straight.

For now she just needed to breath.

She was reaching for her bow, struggling to grab the weapon that was just out of reach when she noticed something that was closer. A pale blue bag filled with tissue paper, it rustled as she grabbed it, and pulled out the little stuff pony. The white rump looked very pale in her grime streaked hands.

It didn't have a name. Jada had never even gotten to see it.

"You ain't supposed to be up." The familiar voice said, she smiled softly, he was so fucking quiet. She hadn't even known he was up.

"I'm sorry, I was just-" She turned around leaning into the truck for support, she wasn't sure what to say. She just clutched that pony in her hands, and stared at it. Not him. It had been a very long night.

"That for Jada?" He asked.

She nodded, "It was." It was quiet for a moment.

"Here," he grunted, hand outstretched. It was the knife. It looked odd in his hand - small, and dainty, and pink, all covered in rhinestones. "Thought you should have it." Her throat tightened again, and she held the pony a bit tighter as she took the knife.

He was starting to leave again, "Daryl." Her voice cracked, and it took him seconds to have his arms around her. Everything felt heavy, and her leg was screaming, so she just leaned into him. Her chest and throat were all tight, and every breath shook, and she shook, and he just held her tighter. "I love you, Daryl." The words were barely more than a whisper, "I love you too."

He pressed a kiss to her temple, and she knew he'd heard her. He knew.

* * *

><p>There had been a lot of gunfire last night. Hadn't been able to sleep, he'd already been feeling on edge, the guns just made him down right twitchy. Didn't matter. All he'd given up was his turn with the pillow, little bit of a longer watch wouldn't hurt him. He let out a long heavy breath, watching the sun rise above the trees. The sky was red this morning.<p>

He frowned, fighting back the urge to kick something, he'd just wake her if he did. All he wanted was some god damned peace and quiet. No guns, no nattering, no going on about their "next move". He didn't care about their next fucking move. Didn't have much to care about now, anyways.

It didn't matter. They'd run out of gas last night. Their next move was walking. He let out a short bark of a laugh.

It didn't matter.

"You really stayed up all night?" He hadn't heard her get up.

"Yup." He didn't look at her.

"Shane, you need your rest."

It didn't matter.

**So long to season two. I'll see you soon. **


	28. Moments

**Hey everyone! This is going to be the buffer chapter between season two and three. It won't exactly follow a plotline as much as just be a little series of vignettes from different points of in our POV characters time on the road.**

**I added some more music to the playlist (and removed a few tracks as well, I got tired of them, and all the songs on there was making everything run really slow when I played it) added a song by Run River North, and maybe a few others if I get around to it later.**

**Thanks to everyone who has followed or favorited this story. Special thanks to redangel2463, my-forgotten-rose, and Inkandtrees for the reviews.**

**I hope you guys enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! **

**Chapter 28 - Moments **

Things were different now. When Shane had left, that was one of her first thoughts: Things were going to be different, but they were going to be good. Now though...she sighed banging her head back against the Tahoe's cab, watching the road fly away from her. Now she wasn't so sure.

Her leg hurt, and she was bored, and really more than anything she wished that she wasn't alone right now. Somewhere behind her, at the front of the caravan, she could hear Daryl's bike rumbling and roaring. She wished she could be with him. She wished she could be with Jada. Jada would have loved this, riding in the Tahoe's bed, watching the trees shoot past them.

To her it was just cold. Cold and boring, with nothing but the sound of the wind in her ears.

She had a couple books with her, but the wind would try and tear the pages back and forth, and the words would only flit through her mind. She ended up wanting to throw the book more than anything else. So she put it down, because Carol had given it to her, and she didn't need to be hurting anyone elses feelings.

Her temper had been shorter than Daryl's the past few days.

Things were different now, for everyone. She didn't have the right to be acting like this, she needed to grow up. She needed to just keep going. Beth had lost her boyfriend, the Greenes had lost Patricia, the group had lost T-Dog...she was the only one who was moping around. Useless.

She wished she could do things. She wished she could stay busy, have something to keep her mind off of the bad stuff - off of dead girls, and the monsters lurking inside them. Hershel said she had to stay off her feet though, and Daryl had been doing an annoyingly good job at making sure she did. She felt like dead weight.

The caravan was turning, the trees faded into suburbs, and slowly the trucks began to come to a stop. Everything jolted as the Tahoe was thrown into park, and she winced. She hadn't actually looked at the back of her leg yet, though she was sure it didn't look good. She knew it didn't sound good - she'd gone over the muscle groups in her head a dozen times: The Soleus, the Tibialis Posterior, the Flexor Digitorum Longus, the Calcaneal tendon. She wasn't going to walk right again, not without some sort of miracle. For all intents and purposes she was going to have a peg leg made of flesh and bone.

Seven or eight months ago maybe something could have been done, but they didn't have modern medicine, or doctors, or hospitals. They had a veterinarian, a pre-med student, and a haphazard medical kit. Hershel had been more worried about infection than motor function when he stitched her back together, though he had tried to realign the torn and tattered muscles to the best of his ability. Maybe, if she was lucky, they would heal together in some way. She could have a pronounced limp instead of a completely dead leg.

She didn't like the idea of not being able to run in the middle of the apocalypse. She had a feeling it would lead to her being dead weight in a far more literal sense.

Doors were slamming somewhere behind her as the group got out, and got ready to run for the closest house. It would be dark soon, they needed to be settled in before the sun went down. If they were lucky they would get a nice quiet night without interruption from the dead. The last two they'd had to make a run for it a few times before they finally got some sleep.

The truck shifted as Daryl hopped up into the bed. They didn't say anything, he just lifted her as gently as possible, and tried not to jostle her leg too much as he carried her out of the truck. Her arms settled between his neck and the crossbow slung across his back, and she leaned into him as he carried her towards the house. She wished she could walk, but she didn't mind the feel of his arms around her.

The group silently grabbed the essentials: some food, some water, weapons and blankets. Had it really just been a few days ago that she woke up in her own bed, that she'd been planning birthday parties and mucking stalls?

Daryl settled her onto someone else couch, before rushing back out the door to bring a few more things in. The house must have been owned by an elderly couple - slightly outdated, lumpy furniture, and a plethora of family photos. Kids, grandkids, old sepia toned portraits.

The door was dead bolted as Daryl ran back in, curtains were thrown shut, and cans of corn and green beans were popped open for dinner. No one talked. Upstairs she could hear Glenn and Rick checking for any trapped walkers.

Just a few days ago there had been an apple pie baking in the oven. Just a few days ago things had been different.

* * *

><p>"What's this for?" Jada asked, looking at the gun in her hands. She knew what it was for, technically, but she had no idea as to why Michonne had given it to her. She was a kid. Renee never let her have guns.<p>

"Killing things." Michonne said, crouching down next to her.

"Why can't I have a sword like you?" She asked, the gun felt odd in her hands. It was metal, and cold. She figure the sword felt like that too, but you weren't supposed to hold the blade.

Michonne smiled, "Cause you're too little to lift a sword."

"What about a knife? Daryl and Renee both used knives," she said, and then added, "and bows. Daryl's was kind of weird looking, said it was called a crossbow." Jada had told Michonne all about her families, both of them. They were all gone now, but she didn't know what else to talk about. It was pretty boring out in the woods.

She'd told Michonne about her Mom and her Dad, about her brothers and sisters, and how it used to snow back home. It had been cold here in Georgia, but it hadn't snowed so far. She kind of hoped it would, though Michonne had said the snow was cold, wet, and she wouldn't like it anymore when her toes fell off.

She'd told her about the day Renee found her in Atlanta, she told her about Dale and his RV, how Amy used to dance with her, and how seven people used to eat breakfast together around a table built for four. The beginnings of her little family. They were all gone now, and there would have been plenty of room at the table if she'd had the RV - but that was gone too.

She'd told her about the Dixons, Daryl and Merle. Merle had kind of scared her, but Daryl was nice. He taught Renee to hunt, and gave her food. She told Michonne how he'd kind of ended up being like a second Dad, like Renee was a second Mom. How he came to live with them after something bad had happened to Renee, no one had told her what, but Renee had been different after that.

She'd asked her if they were family now, just the two of them, out in the woods. Michonne had said they were if she wanted them to be. Jada was pretty sure she did, she liked Michonne. She missed Renee and Daryl, she missed Carl and Sophia, and Glenn and Dale, and the Grimes'...but they were gone now. So here she was with Michonne, Mom number three.

As much as she'd told Michonne about herself in the past few weeks, Michonne rarely said a thing about before. Certainly never said a thing about families. Jada had asked a few times, she never got an answer. They were family for now though, Michonne wasn't gone yet.

"You're too little to reach a walker's head with a knife," Michonne said, "I think a gun's our only option."

"I don't like guns." Jada looked at the hunk of metal in her hand, "They're loud."

"It'll be for emergencies," Michonne assured her, "Only if a walker's going to get to you before I do."

Jada still didn't like it, but she nodded, "Okay."

* * *

><p>"Alright Sunshine," he murmured, "Nice and easy now." One of her slender hands was clasped tightly around his, his other hand cradling her back as he pulled her to her feet. She made a little noise, grimacing as she tested a bit of weight on her bad leg.<p>

"Don't over do yourself," Hershel said, "We still don't know how that leg's going to hold up." She didn't say anything in response, just nodded, and reached out for her cane with her left hand, holding onto his shirt with her right. He'd found the cane in a house they'd stayed in for a couple days, it had been upstairs next to a bed that still had a body in it. The body had been an old man from the looks of it, it was hard to tell though, hadn't had much of a face left.

The cane was nice though, stained wood, solid. It would hold up well.

The whole group was watching her, sprawled out around the living room of what was probably the nicest house they'd found since they'd lost the farm a month ago. There was plenty of room, place was fenced off. Maybe they could stay, just for a little while. Let Renee get her feet again.

It would be good for her, just to be up and about. She was biting her lip in concentration, trying to find her weight. He kept an arm looped around her waist, just in case. Falling on her ass wouldn't be quite so good. She'd been getting better, not good, but better. She slept badly, and she had nightmares, and the first few weeks had been bad - real bad. She'd been angry, she'd been listless, she'd been 'bout ready to tear the head off of anyone who crossed her...or just happened to be breathing loud in a ten foot radius.

She had practically lunged at Carl one morning after she'd found a bottle of whiskey in a cabinet. Must've dragged herself off the couch in the night. It didn't take much to restrain her between the bum leg and the liquor. He'd scooped her up in his arms and carried her out on the porch while she ranted and cried. Inside he was pretty sure he'd heard Carl start crying too.

He'd been trying to give her her space, let her sleep on her own in the comfort of a couch. After that though, he started setting her on the floor instead, holding her through the night.

She had a lot of bad dreams, but that wasn't different. She'd cried a lot more though.

Now though, she was getting better. She smiled more, and she'd joke around with him when he was sitting in the back of the Tahoe with her. She'd lay her head on his shoulder, and he'd lean down so she could kiss him. They didn't always talk, sometimes they'd just sit, there wasn't all that much to say. What could they talk about? She got that sad look on her face when they talked about the farm, and talking about now wasn't all that much better. It was enough just to be with her.

It wasn't always perfect. She still cried some, and she got that sad look in her eyes from time to time. But she was getting better.

He watched her, a touch of a smile on his lips, as he moved his arms back just a bit, and her fingers left his chest, and for the first time in over a month she took a step on her own.

"Hey! Look at you!" Glenn yelled, smiling and clapping as the others cheered and laughed. He couldn't see her face as she hobbled away from him, one tentative step after another. She didn't seem like she knew quite what to do with the cane, and he and just about everyone else almost jumped forward to grab her when she got all wobbly for a moment. She kept on going though.

He couldn't help but smile as she made her way to fire place, and he couldn't help but smile wider as she turned around, the most brilliant grin on her face as she limped back to him. One step at a time. She was getting better.

"I love you," she whispered, leaning back into him again.

"I love you too, Sunshine," he said, wrapping an arm around her. The group started with their 'awws' and their sappy bullshit, "Fuck y'all." He grumbled, hiding a smile in Renee's hair. She giggled.

She was getting better.

* * *

><p>The sun must have been up for a while. Everyone had been letting her sleep in recently, she couldn't exactly do a lot so it didn't matter when she got up. Laundry could be done just about any time of day, and none of the cars were really in need of a tune up (not that Hershel would let her be on her feet for that long). It wasn't a surprise when she woke up late. It was a surprise, however, that Daryl still had his arms wrapped around her, nose buried in the crook of her neck.<p>

He was an early riser normally, and he usually had something to be doing. Whether that be going out hunting, or going with Glenn on runs, or helping Rick fortify the fences around the Big House (that's what they'd been calling the mansion they'd been staying in for the past week now).

There was one bedroom in all of the massive downstairs, and she and Daryl had claimed that as their own. No one objected, it wasn't the nicest bedroom, and she couldn't exactly get up and down stairs all that easily. Her cane was leaning against the nightstand, and she thought she might get up, take a shower. They'd gotten the generator working, and with the generator came the well pump and the hot water tank - she'd been taking advantage of it while she could.

She was thankful her stitches were already out, it would've sucked not being able to get her leg wet. She couldn't stand in the shower all that well - not on her own at least, she'd found herself in there with Daryl more than once now - but she could sit. It was one of those fancy rain showers, with a flat tile floor, it wasn't hard to get in and out of. With a sigh she started to roll over, reaching for her cane, but an arm tightened around her, and Daryl groaned into his pillow.

She laughed softly, falling back to the mattress. His lips found her neck, kissing and nipping and sucking up and down. She moaned softly. If Jada had been awake she would have yelled at them for being gross by now, Renee frowned and pushed that thought out of her head. Just enjoying the sensation of Daryl's touch. His lips trailing up towards her jaw as his hand slid slowly over her stomach, down to the waistband of her cotton pajama shorts.

She gasped as his fingers found her clit, and she felt him laugh against her. Breath cool against her throat. Working his fingers around in slow, teasing circles. He rolled to hold himself over her, kissing her lips hungrily as she threw her arms around his neck, holding him close. She squirmed and wiggled her hips up into his fingers, trying to find more pressure. Her hands wandered over his bare shoulders, he'd stopped wearing a shirt when they slept together a few days ago. She wasn't sure if that was an invitation to ask about his scars or not, so she'd left the matter alone.

"Daryl," she whined, smiling up at him. He could be such a fucking tease sometimes.

"What's that Sunshine?" He stopped his fingers and she moaned in protest, he had that dumb ass smile on his face, and she glared up at him, "You want somethin'?"

"Daryl!" She kicked out with her good leg, bumping his knee with hers, and he laughed.

"I'm sorry, didn't catch that. What'd you want?" His tongue flicked out over his lip briefly, before he bit down on a smile.

"I want you to fuck me," she grumbled.

"Oh really?" He kissed her softly, letting his middle finger trail, featherlight, up her opening and over her clit.

"I'm gonna murder you, Dixon." She half muttered half moaned as he gently traced around her clit.

"I'd like to see ya try an' catch me," he murmured as he left kisses down her jaw and neck.

It took her a moment to get the joke, "Jerk!" She laughed, swinging a hand up to punch him in the shoulder. He caught her wrist and pushed it down to the mattress, his hand slipping out of her pants as he grabbed her other hand and brought them both over her head, holding her down. She giggled and he leaned back down to kiss her, keeping her hands in place with one of his as the other went down to pull off her pajama shorts.

He thrust two fingers into her, and she moaned as his thumb started working hard against her clit. He moved in and out, and she could feel herself getting wetter as she bucked her hips up into him. He smiled into the kiss, as his fingers left her center, and then his lips left her mouth as he slid down her body.

He was careful not to jostle her leg as he grabbed her by the hips, and pulled her up to him. He licked slowly all the way up from her core to her clit, once, twice, again as she moaned his name. He stopped at her clit this time, kissing and sucking the nub and she felt her walls start to spasm with her hips.

"Daryl…" she moaned again, as he pulled back a bit, nose rubbing over her clit as his tongue went to her opening, and he held her up a bit higher. Gently teasing in and out, never going all the way in, she groaned and he plunged his tongue into her center, flicking and sucking, and she could feel herself getting so damn wet as her clit pulsed and hardened.

He pulled back, eyes meeting hers as he blew a cool breath over her wet core. She struggled not to melt as he did it again, tingles flooding up from between her thighs to everywhere else. He laughed, putting his mouth back to work with an intensity that made her squirm. He sucked harder and harder on her clit, his tongue occasionally flicking circles and pressing into it.

"Daryl," she moaned, and he only picked up the pace, gripping her tightly as he lifted her farther off the bed, "Daryl!" she kicked out with her good leg, hips bucking. It felt so amazing. He was sucking and licking and kissing, and she could feel herself getting close. She didn't want it to end, not yet. "Daryl, stop." She breathed, and he pulled back, looking at her.

Her walls kept tightening, and she wanted him to start again, but the waiting made it better.

"Don't want to come too soon," she said, sitting up as he let her back down to the bed, rocking back onto his knees,"It's your turn."

Her hand trailed down his chest all the way to the button on the jeans he'd worn to bed. She slid a hand in, cupping him through his boxers, he was already pretty hard. She massaged him with the same teasing nonchalance he'd given her, as he leaned down to kiss her (getting all the way up to him was a bit difficult for her at the moment).

His hands started trailing up and down her back, leaving tingles on her spine as he grew harder in her hands. Fingers slipped under her hemline, and pretty soon her sweater was off, and so was her bra. One hand started to massage her breast, as he left hickeys on her neck, and she began to pull his jeans down.

A few moments later they were both completely naked, and he was cross legged in front of her, cock upright in the air. He had a pretty nice dick, she'd give him that. Not too big, not too small, symmetrical - what else could she want? She wrapped her right hand around his length, stroking up and down as she kissed him. His hands cupped her ass as he pulled her up into his lap, his dick was very very close to her center as she jerked him off. It was taking a lot of self control not to just go ahead and ride him now.

They hadn't actually had sex yet, not all the way. They hadn't exactly had a lot of privacy lately, but god did she want to.

She slid back off of his lap, and laid down on her stomach, carefully bringing her bad leg around as she brought her lips up to kiss the tip of his cock. His fingers laced through her hair, and he groaned as she took him into her mouth. Slowly sucking, and swirling her tongue around his head. Her hands went to his balls and she felt him lean back, moaning as she massaged him, as she started to bring her head back again. Pumping up and down his dick, slow and steady.

She slid him all the way into her mouth, and then, squeezing his balls gently, she came back up, inch by inch. She sucked on him all the way back up to his head, ending in a slow, sucking kiss on the tip of his dick. He moaned, and she smiled, as she gave him the same treatment he'd given her: blowing cool air over his now slick cock. The sound he made was somewhere between a moan and a growl, and she felt her walls tighten and her clit throb as he gripped her hair harder and pushed her back down onto him. She pumped him hard and fast with her hand and her mouth, as he guided her head up and down, moaning her name.

Suddenly he didn't seem like he could take it anymore. One hand stayed cradling the back of her head, the other grabbed her hip and he flipped her down underneath him. She yelped as her leg twinged.

"Sorry," he said, meeting her eyes, concern showing in his own.

"It's fine," she nodded, she just wanted him to keep going. He kissed her once, twice, not breaking eye contact as he shifted his hips, positioning himself over her. She could feel tingles racing up and down, a tightness in her belly, and more than anything she wanted him inside of her, "Daryl," she moaned his name in anticipation as she felt him brush against her.

He started to press into her entrance, the tip pushing through her. His eyes never left hers, asking if this was okay. She nodded, trying to keep her hips from bucking as she waited for that first thrust. It came, his lips finding her throat as he filled her, pumping in again and again as she tightened around him.

"Fuck, Renee." He groaned as she pushed her hips up to meet his, as he started to thrust into her faster. Suddenly a very horrible thought struck her.

"Daryl stop!" She said suddenly and he jumped a bit, pulling out quickly, "Condom, we need a condom."

"Shit." He muttered, sitting up. She wanted him back inside her, but she also didn't want a pregnancy, "You got one?"

"No," she said, "Run upstairs, Glenn and Maggie will have one." He bit his lip, suddenly finding the bedside table very interesting, "Daryl," she pleaded, "I can't go up the staircase."

"Damn it, Red. I don't know who's up yet, I can't go out there. Don't matter what I put on, gonna look like a fucking tent."

She took a deep breath, as they sat there for a moment, "Fool around in the shower?" She didn't have to ask twice, it took seconds for him to have his arms around her. She laughed as she was lifted from the bed, and he carried her into the bathroom. She giggled as the water started to pour over them, and his lips crashed back down onto hers.

Things were different now. Not better, not worse. Just different.

**I had been planning on putting some Shane into this chapter, but decided to just wait and put him in the main season three chapters (instead I wrote some smut). So we'll be seeing more of him soon, this will be the only buffer chapter. I hope you guys liked it, and I hope to hear back from you guys! **


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